Make it seem realistic
by IcexMelody
Summary: Acting has never been only a hobby. For her, it was a way of living. For him, it was a proof that he was the best. And for both of them - a passion. A passion, affecting people's decisions and lives. "What is it now? Is it truth or is it an act?"
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there, lovelies! :) **

**This thing is just an idea I came up with randomly while waking up this morning...I don't know, but obviously inspiration hit me hard.**

**I hope you'll like it!**

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_**Chapter 1**_

A joke. A huge one, for the record.

She was going to make a fool out of herself for even trying this.

Why did she even agree on something, proposed by Ino?! Honestly, she did not know, but at the time she had thought that it sounded like a pretty good perspective. A pretty tempting one.

But now? Now that performing arts high school didn't seem like anything, except for an institute for weirdos. Once she stepped through the front door, her mouth dropped and she looked around while her eyes were slowly widened.

No _regular_ school was that motley. Or that noisy. And there certainly weren't people dancing all over the main hall , or people singing at the top of their lungs at every corner in regular institutes. And the weirdest part was that everything seemed to be _normal_ in that place.

" No." she said clearly and turned to Ino, who dramatically rolled her eyes and pushed her back forward.

" Oh, come on, Forehead! At least give it a go!"

" Do I seem like someone who wants to give that a go?!"

" Yes, pretty much, in fact. You know, you'd fit in perfectly with that pink hair of yours."

Sakura's hand consciously flew to the tips of her pink locks, before she could even open her mouth.

" My hair has nothing to do with this madness."

" It has to do a lot with it. It speaks on a spiritual level about you, as a person. And only an artistic person would leave it be."

" Ino, you can't really expect me to fit in here with all these-''

" The principal is waiting for you, Sakura! I arranged an appointment, so at least go and fail, if you really don't like it, but don't you dare make me look bad in her eyes!"

Sakura looked at her blonde best friend with a mixed expression from annoyance and stubbornness. Ino's eyes didn't leave hers, until it turned into something like a staring contest, which the rosette quickly lost after letting her eyes drift around the main hall.

It was really noisy, really chaotic, really _different_.

But if you looked at it again, from the point of view of somebody, who loved everything related to arts in general, it was actually quite cozy. Quite charming.

She turned back to only see Ino still staring at her and had to admit her defeat with a quiet sigh.

" Lead the way, pig..."

" Don't call me like that in here!" the blonde muttered hysterically, looking around, before straightening up again, this time, with a victorious smile. " It's right over there, come!''

Sakura was being dragged through the mass of students. She had some time to look around and take a better look at them.

They all seemed like normal teenagers, if you didn't include their current activities, which involved singing and dancing, or rehearsing at corners in little groups, reading scripts and playing guitars on the stairs. Sakura dared to assume, that it was lunch break now and when she questioned Ino, she only laughed.

" No, a normal break. Lunch break is after this class ends."

That statement only made Sakura wonder what the fuss would be once it began. She really did not want to know, actually.

She couldn't help, but also notice, that at every step, that Ino was making through the hall, some people were turning to her and greeting her, as if she were really important or something like that. But, of course! It was Ino, after all. She has always been a part of the group of popular kids, even in their elementary school, where Sakura and Ino had actually met. But that thing here seemed pretty impressive, how people were smiling at her, emptying her way.

It wasn't so different, after all, from normal high schools. The whole thing was a kingdom, and obviously, Ino was its queen.

Such thoughts were running through Sakura's head, until she realized, that Ino had stopped. Only in time not to bump into her. They were in front of a door with a plate, that read 'Principal'.

Ino looked at Sakura critically and stretched out her arms to adjust some locks on Sakura's head.

" You look good. Just...go in there and do whatever she says."

" Whatever she says? Am I not only supposed to go in there and sign some stuff and-"

" Silly girl!" Ino laughed, while retreating slowly. " No regular rules are of importance here! This is Konoha Arts, after all!"

And then, without any warning, she knocked and opened the door, while Sakura gaped quietly at her. Before she could say anything, however, Ino pushed her forward and then disappeared back into the crowd with a devious smile.

Oh that Ino! She was so going to pay for this!

" Are you going to enter or are you just going to stand there, looking thunderstruck?"

The feminine voice drew her out of her murder plotting plans. Her eyes adjusted to what she was seeing - a blonde woman, sitting on a huge chair, that reminded of a throne, rummaging around a drawer on the massive desk, that was staying exactly across the room. She wasn't even looking at her.

" Ah...yes, yes, of course! I am sorry."

Sakura stepped in and closed the door carefully after herself. The woman still wasn't looking at her, but looked devastated by the fact, that she was obviously not finding something. Sakura clutched her handbag and waited. And waited.

Until the blonde head snapped up and faced her with a partly annoyed expression.

" Why are you still standing? Do you wait for a special invitation to sit? Or maybe a map to the chairs?"

You know these moments, when you open your mouth and nothing comes out? That's exactly what happened at that moment. Sakura stood there for two more seconds, before heading towards the chairs in front of the desk, a slight blush creeping on her face.

And the woman was once again, staring intensely at the drawer, that she was searching, before closing it with a loud bang, that made Sakura slightly tense up in her chair.

" So you must be the Haruno girl Ino told me about."

It wasn't a question. It was rather a statement, that she made, before standing up from her chair and heading towards the cupboard on the side of the room, which she opened and started looking at.

" Ah, yes, that would be me."

" She said you had talent."

" I...I suppose."

" Prove it. Show it to me."

Sakura's mouth opened again. Mostly, because the woman was not even looking at her, but was still searching the coffers and dressers around for something.

" I...umm...I..."

" There's a script on my desk. The first paragraph."

Sakura turned up to the woman once again. What was she? Crazy? Sakura couldn't do something just like that. She hadn't prepared for an...an audition, hell! And the fact, that was making her angry was that this old wench wasn't even looking at her! Was she that unimportant? That plain? Tch.

She knew, who she was, of course. Tsunade Senju was a name, wide known in the sphere of filming industry, and not only a name, that was written on the golden plate on the desk. And certainly, as Ino said, artistic people were weird. Obviously, that was a part of what this woman Tsunade was.

Sakura knew, that acting was something, that she loved. She loved the feeling to become somebody else, to think in a different way, to dedicate your all to be somebody else, because at times, she certainly did not want to be herself. And she knew, that she was _good_ at it! She could totally own this granny right then and there, but still, there was something in the way, that she was neglecting her, that made Sakura feel extremely down. Was this place worth it, if people were going to treat her like that? Like she was invisible? It certainly was not.

But then, Ino's words ringed in her head as clear as crystal.

'Don't you dare make me look bad in her eyes'

She clenched her jaw. She was going to do it. Even if the old bat wasn't listening to her, she was going to do it, to get over with it as fast as possible. And then she was going to get the hell out of there and back into her old school, back into her normal classes, with her normal and ,most importantly, sane classmates and teachers. Yes.

She reached out for the only thing that looked like a script on the desk and looked at the cover.

**With the blooming of the spring**

**by Hyuga Hinata**

Sakura has never heard of such a play and she has never heard of such a writer, poet or whatever. That play and that name were completely foreign to her, and probably that was the point. It wasn't supposed to be something like 'Hamlet' or 'Romeo and Juliet', something that she would have known by heart. It was supposed to be something infamous. And then it hit her. The woman was trying to test her there. She wanted her to improvise with something unknown. Well, if that was the way people were enrolled in this academy, then there must have been plenty of broken hearts and crashed dreams.

Sakura quickly opened the script and looked at the first page, or rather, the first paragraph. She quickly read it, once, twice, thrice. There. Done. She stood up.

She did not wait for the woman to notice her, for that obviously wasn't going to happen. So she cleared her throat discreetly and lowered the script.

" Maybe it was my shyness, maybe it was the way I'd always start stuttering around him, maybe it was the way I always lost balance when I saw him. Maybe it was me, in general, the idiot, that I was. Maybe this was everything, that kept me away from him. Away from my dreams and from everything, that I urged to be. Maybe in order to complete my life I didn't have to be the coward, that I was." Sakura spared a glance at the woman, before raising her voice slightly, she started speaking more clearly, more powerfully. " I had to stand on my feet and face what life was throwing at me. And instead of being the shy little girl, that I was, I had to straighten up and repel the fate of constant hiding. I had to be stronger. I had to be independent. In order to get him, I had to break free of my own chains."

Sakura lowered the script and breathed out. She thought, that the drama in her voice had been fairly measured, that the shyness at the beginning was exactly the amount needed for that sort of text to be felt. All in all, she could say for herself, that it was a rather good representation of a text after only two readings, without any decors. A good improvisation. And when she looked up to see the woman's reaction, she was surprised to see, that she wasn't rummaging around, but was holding the door of the cupboard and was looking at her. Their eyes met for only a second. And the woman's eyes were simply, what? They were not empty by all means, but Sakura could not read what they were saying. There was something, that she, unfortunately, could not recognize.

Without saying anything else, Tsunade returned her attention to her searching, without saying a thing.

I was exceptionally quiet for a good of a few seconds. Sakura vaguely thought, that the hallway must have emptied by now. But her attention was mostly directed to the way, that this woman was not even reacting to her performance. If she were judging it would have been better than silence.

And suddenly, Sakura felt, that having this great and known producer scold the shit out of her would be better than having the same producer, a current director in a performing arts academy, completely ignore her. It was worse than the worse. It was disrespectful.

Sakura suppressed the feelings, that were about to pop on the surface, the anger, the sadness. She simply left the script back on the desk and picked up her bag.

" I..." she started, but shook her head. It was useless. She turned back towards the door and opened it. "Thank you for your time."

Then she got out and finally sighed out.

She had been right, after all. She wasn't cut out for this place. And she had been right about the hall being empty. Except for a single person, that was leaning against the front door and who jumped once she got out. Ino ran over through the hall on her heels in less than a few seconds, before catching her shoulders, a hint of hope sparkling in her baby blue eyes.

" So? What happened? What did she make you do?"

" I..." Sakura waited until they got away from the door of her office. " She made me improvise on the first paragraph of some play, a script."

" Hm...that's what most of the people do in here when she listens to them."

" Most of them? You mean, it's not a regular thing to do?"

" Oh, no..." Ino laughed. " She made me test out her sake, because she thought it might have expired. And then she made me sing a song, that I had never before heard in my life."

" Oh, lucky you..."

" Sarcasm that early in the day isn't healthy, Sakura! Stop sulking, what happened in there?"

" I don't know!" Sakura snapped. " She was just looking around and was not even looking at me, until I finished. She only stared at me for a second, before..."

" She looked at you?!" Ino gasped, grasping Sakura's attention at once.

" What?"

" She really looked at you?"

" Yes, but-"

" Damn, you lucky bitch!" Ino laughed and patted Sakura's shoulder. " I knew you'd make it!"

" What the hell are you talking about?"

Ino laughed sarcastically, before spinning the ring on her long middle finger vaguely.

" Being looked by Tsunade Senju is either a huge threat or a huge praise. And since I know what you've got in yourself, it certainly isn't the first one...You didn't get your shedule, did you? Of course you didn't, why do I even bother to ask, wait here!"

Before Sakura could say a thing, Ino ran down the corridor and returned back only a minute later with a piece of paper in her hand.

" There you go, Forehead, your classes! She asked me to tell you, that she, quote, does not tolerate forgetful little brats, that can't help her find her sake."

" Is that what she was looking for this entire time?!" Sakura shrieked, while taking the program. " Fucking alcohol was more important than me!"

" That's Tsunade. Alcohol is her top priority."

Sakura quickly inspected the shedule. It looked like a normal school program with the slight difference, that classes like biology were replaced by directing, and where maths should have been, acting was standing. But that wasn't important either.

" Ino...you said...what did you mean by that? About her looking at people?"

" The praise and the trouble looks? Well, apart from you, obviously, there is only one more student in our year to have received the pleasure of meeting her 'approving look' during his, let's call it a trial."

" Really? Who?"

" Uchiha Sasuke."

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He was so tired of the same old directing classes. They were a pain in his ass. Always the same stuff...don't let your ego kill your talent, use the power you have for good, learn to trust your instincts, find a good inspiration.

He did not find these classes entertaining at all. Actually, he didn't find any classes entertaining, except for the acting classes. Because he was hardly interested in anything else, except for acting. He did not want to be a director, a producer or a screenwriter, he did not want to work for the technical support in movie theaters, he did not want to be a make up artist for the stars. So all these classes were stupid for him, in his opinion, useless. He wasn't going to be the one helping the star, he was going to be the star himself.

'Too much ego will kill your talent'.

That, too, was a pretty useless saying. He had his ego in quite a huge amount. And he did not think, that it could ruin his talent, because it was much above the average, too.

In other words, he could not think of a better actor in Konoha Academy for Performing Arts at the moment, KAPA for short, or only Konoha Arts. With the talent he bore and the help of his mostly famous teachers, Sasuke doubted, that anything could stop him.

So, naturally, staying in this stupid directing class was a complete waste of time.

Somebody poked him in the back and before he even turned, he knew who that was. Naruto seemed to be as interested by these classes as much as he was. And naturally, they would start chatting, until Kurenai would get too angry to keep quiet and would threaten to kick them out, which would only end up with slight smirks and snickers.

Sasuke turned around slightly and raised his eyebrows.

" What, Naruto?"

" Where's Ino?"

" Why the hell would I care?...Why the hell do you care?"

" I don't. I am just bored." Naruto leaned back in his chair, before sighing and looking down to his clock. And with a sly smirk, he turned up to Kurenai. The bell rang after only a few seconds and Sasuke gladly was the first one to stand up and get out of the classroom into the already full hallways.

It was lunch break, finally, and then he had stage fight class and then, finally, two-acting. But for now, lunch. That was his priority, for he was a boy and people just could not let a young man not eat for more than three hours.

A loud smack on his back indicated, that Naruto was already there next to him.

" Let's go! I am starving..." Naruto chided happily next to Sasuke, who walked with the flow of students towards the backyards of the school. It was still too hot for them to be moving to the inner cafeteria.

" So, what's your screenplay about?"

" Oh!" Naruto's eyes shone. " It's about a man who learns how to manipulate time and uses it to change his own life, to make it perfect, until he realizes, that it's a power, that could change the whole world and decides to use it for the good of his fellow people...I bet that this time I won't get an F!"

Sasuke's eyebrows raised slightly on his forehead. That didn't sound bad. And if Naruto had written it properly, then he wasn't supposed to have any problems.

" What about yours?"

" Same old. I came up with it on the street. Spies of the president, who're actually double agents for a mafia, that's planning an attack on the government." Sasuke shrugged. " And, of course, a bit of romance, cause that's what Kurenai likes."

" Oh right! I forgot the lovey-dovey shit!" Naruto slapped his forehead angrily, before sitting down on their usual table and taking his laptop out of the bag as fast as possible. " So, when do I include his, I don't know, confession of undying love? Before he faces an entire alien race in the future or after he avoids World War II?"

Sasuke froze for a second, before shaking his head slightly. That was Naruto, he should have anticipated this. And he simply was not evil enough to break it to him, that with such plots he would be lucky to receive a C.

" The second one." a feminine voice said and Sasuke turned in time to see Temari and Shikamaru settle on the chairs across of them. " And if you include some Hitler action it would be pretty awesome."

Shikamaru snorted loudly, because, obviously the genius boy found that advice hilarious. Those two were people to always surprise Sasuke. Temari was a pretty good actress when it came to drama and mysteries, which highly contradicted with her fair hair and light eyes, but it was in her. And Shikamaru. Well, the boy was a genius on such higher levels, that it was almost laughable. He wasn't much of an actor, or singer, for the record. He could not play any musical instruments, as far as Sasuke knew, but damn, could that boy write! His plays were always the best, almost every time chosen for the plays of the annual season performances. And whenever there was a school project, Shikamaru was in charge, for he always managed to choose the best people suitable for every job. His works were admirable.

And now, obviously, he did not approve of what he was hearing, but was too lazy to say anything about it.

After a good of ten minutes, the table was full enough for conversations to start. Kiba, the boy known for his amazing stage fights and average acting skills. Hinata, a shy girl, who had no people in her league when it came to design. She had also some decent writing skills. And her singing didn't suck either, but she definitely wasn't cut out to be an actress. Too shy. Tenten, another girl, who was probably the best female stunt Sasuke had ever seen and her boyfriend, Neji, was the Sasuke of their year. He was the best from the seniors.

" Oi, where's Ino, Kiba?" Temari asked, while the guy furrowed his brows.

" I am not her personal stalker, you know?"

" Well, you're her bloody boyfriend, you're supposed to know stuff like that!"

" I am?" he turned towards Naruto, who seemed to be clueless.

" You are?"

" He is!" Tenten stopped them and looked around. " Ah, there she is!"

Sasuke wasn't interested enough in Ino to look up. The girl was more than good. She had received all the rights to sit on that table. But what caught his attention, was that Naruto let out a small 'huh'.

" Who's that girl with her?"

" T-That would be h-her b-best friend she was t-talking about." Hinata said, before blushing intensely under Naruto's gaze.

Sasuke looked up at the direction all of them were looking at. And really, there was a girl walking beside the blonde diva. And that girl was definitely something interesting.

Something in the way her red shirt was falling on the short denim shorts. Something in the very hipster style of putting leggings under those leggings. Something in the way she was holding her bag. Something in the way she was looking around with fascination. Something in her irritatingly bubble pink hair, that was falling on her shoulders.

Something in her, that was making her look all dreamy, as if she were living in a parallel universe, as if she weren't there. That was the way all artists looked like, all people, who actually had something valuable inside of them.

" Hi there!" Ino greeted, before sitting between Kiba and Tenten. She greeted her boyfriend with a soft kiss, before peeling off of him and looking up to the newcomer. " Sit here, Sakura! Move your fat ass, Tenten!"

" Don't you give orders to my fat ass." said girl replied with a smile, but moved slightly away to be able to free a place for the pink haired girl.

" That's Sakura, everybody!" Ino announced proudly, as if this were something really, really important. " She'll be studying with us from today! And listen to that, I've got news, people!"

" It's not about the brushes in the makeup class again, is it?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes, while Ino gestured him to shut up.

" No, but since you bring it up, I'm still on-"

" Ino! The news?"

" Ah, right! Listen!" she smiled mischievously and the way she looked at him. Sasuke did not like it. Why did she look at him? Then she turned to her friend and squeezed her shoulder. " That girl here, Sakura Haruno! She received a look today!''

At first, nobody seemed to understand. Neither did he. Until realization hit him at the same time, that it hit most of his friends. The usually shy Hinata let herself gasp a loud 'WOW!', Temari leaned in to inspect the pink haired girl with huge interest in her eyes, Kiba seemed to be stunned. The rest of the people were pretty much with the same reactions. And he. Well, honestly, he was slightly taken aback. But only slightly. He did notice, that she looked like a complete arts ditz, didn't he?

The look, that Naruto gave him, though, he recognized as trouble. With the usual grin, the blonde laughed.

" Now, now, not the best around anymore, eh, Sasuke?"

That bloke Naruto. Friends were supposed to encourage each other, but now, he has settled on demotivation instead.

However, he was right. Obviously that girl had more to herself than the first impression she was giving away. So she received an approval? Sasuke never really felt the need to explain to anybody how psyched he was while Tsunade was making him improvise. He had to make up a monologue on place and at the end, she had looked up to him from some reports in her hands with nothing written on her face. Since then, however, he had come to realize, that Tsunade was very far from a heartless bitch, but a very, very useful tutor. She was motivating her students, she was praising them. And he has come to realize, that what she was putting them through on the first day was always a challenge, that they had to overcome.

And Sakura has.

Sakura Haruno. It sounded nice. A little edgy, but nice, melodic. A name he would easily remember.

" What did she make you do?" he asked and all the comments on the table stopped.

" She made me act out the first paragraph of a play. Improvise." the girl shrugged.

Her voice, he decided, was also melodic. It wasn't rough, it wasn't high pitched, it was nice. Every word she spoke was filled with something, that he interpreted as joy.

His friends started introducing themselves to her, obviously impressed by the fact, that they had the honor to know another person, who had received Tsunade Senju's approval.

And it was not only Sasuke now. It was now Sasuke and Sakura. And he did not like it.

He was the best one out there.

And he did not plan to let that little girl steal it from him that easily.

Welcome to KAPA, Sakura Haruno. May your stay here be as delightful as possible.

He reached out for his soda can with a smile on his lips. And that smile was a fake.

But nobody else could tell.

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**Well, I hope you liked it!**

**Reviews would be highly appreciated, mostly for the fact, that I want to read what you think of this..so make sure to leave your thoughts in the review section below! :)**

**Thanks for reading! Bye bye!**

**xox**


	2. Chapter 2

**Enjoy! :)**

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_**Chapter 2**_

As she was walking down the hallways with her new friends, Sakura couldn't help but let a small smirk creep on her face. It was weird how only three days could change your whole views on something. Now that she was a part of this, a part of KAPA, she could completely understand everything. She didn't wonder why people were sitting on the staircases, writing and singing, rehearsing plays, dancing, playing instruments. No, she didn't find it weird, but completely normal. Mostly, because she could understand why these people were acting like this.

Konoha Arts was a school, that, for most of the students over there, was a place, where they could be themselves. Where they could be free, not restricted by the stupid rules of ordinary schools.

For when she was in her previous high school, Sakura has always been the one to be called clumsy, weird and dumb. People there weren't capable of understanding her passion for all kinds of art. They were suffocating...

And all these people in here, they were just like her. KAPA was giving them the chance to be themselves, without being judged by anybody. And suddenly, nobody was judging her for the dreamy look on her face, nobody was finding the pink hair weird. Quite the opposite, in fact. It seemed like it was helping her fit it better.

She belonged there!

And the first time she came to question that theory of hers was that same day, after the lunch break, when she had her first acting class in the academy.

When she entered the classroom with all her friends, she expected to see regular desks and chairs. But she didn't. What her eyes wandered on were mats on the floor. Like, yoga mats and pillows all over the place. And where the teacher's desk was supposed to stay, there was a little stage, like a podium. And obviously, she was the only one who found that abnormal, because all her classmates started settling down on the floor, some of them even lying down on the pillows.

She was pulled down on the ground by Ino just when the teacher stepped in five minutes after the bell rang.

He was weird in a way, too. He didn't seem old. Of course, she wouldn't know that, because of the mask, that was covering the lower half of his face. And the color of his hair wasn't really persuading either, for the grayish silver tone wasn't exactly typical for young people. However, the way he looked around his students, his eyes lingering on her for more than a second, the way his hair didn't seem to be affected in any way by gravity. No, he wasn't old, she decided. No more than thirty.

" Hey, everybody, I'm sorry I'm late. You see, there was this accident in the main hall and I just couldn't pass by without..."

" Yeah, right!" many of her classmates interrupted him together, others rolled their eyes, thirds started muttering. The man scratched the back of his head and she could swear, that he was smiling underneath the mask.

" Anyway." he suddenly brought his hands together and directed his eyes towards her. " I don't think that I have the pleasure to know you."

" Oh, you don't." Ino said brightly, then pushed Sakura, who only looked at her a bit angrily. What was she doing? Was she probably thinking, that Sakura didn't have a mouth to talk with? Tch.

" I'm Sakura Haruno. The new girl."

" The new girl..." the teacher repeated thoughtfully. " Ah, yeah, Tsunade did mention something about a new girl. Oh, well. Call me Kakashi."

She wasn't surprised by that command either. Only one teacher in here by far has asked to be referred to as , but nobody seemed to listen to her and were calling her Kurenai anyway. The rest of them, however - Asuma, Anko, Ebisu...none of them seemed to be fond of all the formalities.

" OK." Sakura smiled. " Got it."

" I'm sure you do." he replied somewhat distantly, because his mind seemed to be at another place by then. " We have a new student, so naturally, there should be improvisation, right?"

" There's always improvisation, Sakura has nothing to do with it." Naruto commented from behind, a few of their classmates laughed. " You're just too lazy to think of something new, right, Kakashi?"

Sakura straightened slowly. How could Naruto dare say something like that to a teacher? Was he nuts? Well, the first impression she got from the boy was, that he was a total dumbass. After hearing his song the following day, however, she wasn't entirely sure about it. The lyrics were too meaningful and deep, so there was obviously more to him, than he was showing. But he was loud-mouthed. He didn't seem to care about others' opinions, which was a good thing there and he obviously was never making the connection between brain and mouth, for he called Ino a slut the previous day and had a bruise on his cheekbone for that now.

Kakashi, however, didn't seem to be offended at all. He just raised his arms on the level of his head and smiled again.

" You caught me. Now get your ass up here for obviously you're a candidate and...let me see, let me see...Kiba! Up! Now..."

The two boys stood up from their places and headed towards the little stage, which Kakashi emptied for them by actually jumping off of it and sitting on the yoga mats.

" What's the situation?" Kiba asked tiredly, before yawning.

" Shikamaru, situation!" Kakashi bellowed, before resting back on a pillow. Said genius boy rolled his eyes.

" Too lazy to think even of that, eh? Let me think...How about two guys arguing over who a girl likes better?"

" A bit mainstream, now, aren't you?" Ino poked him slightly, but Sakura didn't bother to pay attention to them, for Naruto and Kiba looked at each other with such hatred, such anger, that she almost believed it...almost. And when they started speaking, their voices sounded harsher than usual.

" It is obvious, that she will never like a cretin like you, look at yourself, what could you offer her?" Kiba spat angrily. Sakura knew, that this was an act, but so did the others. He wasn't really convincing. Neither of them was actually threatening. Right, they were focusing hard, but obviously acting wasn't their strength. Naruto, however, did sound a tad angrier than Kiba.

" Ha! As if a creature like you could actually be better than me. I might not be the best looking-"

" You got that right!"

" I swear I will not let you ruin what me and her have!"

" And what is it? Mutual liking for Disney movies? Face it, kid, she'll never even look at you!"

" Speaks the empty headed fang boy. What do you expect her to do? Fall head over heals for the weirdass? I bet you she won't."

" How about keeping your mouth shut,eh?"

" Make me, dog!"

Sakura didn't expect to see Kiba's hand raising, she didn't expect seeing his palms form into fists, she didn't expect the swing of the fist towards Naruto's face. She certainly did not expect Kiba punching the blonde, who swayed backwards, his hand glued to the place, where Kiba hit him.

She felt her eyes widen and then drift on Kakashi. Was he going to do nothing about it?

After a second, though, she received her explanation. Naruto removed the hand from his cheek and grinned.

" So, how was that?"

" I'm, as always, amazed by Kiba's stage fighting skills. It seemed real, even I almost believed it." Kakashi said quickly, swiftly avoiding Naruto's question. The two boys looked at each other and shrugged, before sitting back in their places. " OK! Next couple! Sasuke and...Karin!"

" Karin's on set, Kakashi..." some girl from behind said, while Kakashi sighed.

" Oh, right, I forgot. OK, then, Ino!"

Sakura turned around to face her best friend, who excitedly jumped on her feet and almost ran on the stage. That made the rosette smile. She knew, that there was nothing, that Ino loved more than acting and singing. Or probably it was due to the fact, that she got to play with Sasuke Uchiha.

Sakura hasn't forgotten what she has been told about him. The only other student in her year, that's received Tsunade's approval.

And as she was thinking this, he peeled off the floor and headed for the stage,a stoic expression on his face, as if he really didn't care what was going on. He was a looker, she gave him that. With the raven hair and the onyx eyes, the shape of the jaw and the muscles...yes, a real heartbreaker. But other than that, she couldn't say much. She didn't know him, he wasn't opening up like the rest of them, like Naruto, Hinata, Choji and Shikamaru, like Temaru, Tenten and Neji...He was closed in himself, mysterious. And while most girls would think that it was cool, she found it irritating. At least now she'd have the chance to see what everybody was so speaking of, she was going to see him play. At last, she was going to see what people were so much spoiling him for.

" OK, finally you're there...The situation...the girlfriend has received a job in a far, far away city...Chop, chop!"

Ino went a little farther from Sasuke and then, the plastered smile disappeared from her face, being replaced by an uncertain smirk. She made a few steps forward and that's when Sasuke turned around.

For the first time, Sakura saw some emotions written on his face. It was as if he were seeing his favorite thing, such happiness was written all over his face. And when he saw the look on Ino's face, he quickly caught her shoulders and suddenly his face darkened. Sakura recognized the fear and anxiety.

" Honey, what's wrong?" his voice sounded like silk. It was that amazing. And it sounded so concerned...

" Well...I've got news..." Ino smiled hopefully.

" What is it?"

" I...I got a job..."

" Really?! That's...that's amazing, baby! We should celebrate!"

" Wait, I...it's...it's across the country..."

Sakura noticed vaguely how his hands slid off her shoulders, down to her hands. But her attention was mainly focused on the face of that pretty boy, that was filled with so much real emotion, that it was unbelievable. He seemed stunned, hurt.

" Wow...I..." he breathed out. " Does this mean, that you're...leaving?"

" I..." Ino looked away. And as much as she hated to admit this, Sakura could see the difference the two people on the stage were at. Sasuke's acting was simply phenomenal. And Ino was...Ino was good. Really good, but just that. " I never said that..."

" But you don't want to stay either." Sasuke stated, this time, his tone colder, a bit more distant. His hands peeled off from Ino and both of them flew to his head, where he ran them through his hair, as if he was thinking hardly, trying to concentrate. he then breathed out, again, rather, sighed. he turned back to Ino and caught he face in his palms. " Let's not think about this now, OK? I'm happy for you and we will find a way to deal with it, right?"

" Right." Ino said, a little smile on her face. " I love you."

" I love you, too..."

Before Sakura knew what was going on, Sasuke was kissing Ino and at first, the rosette thought, that she'd push him aside, or even punch him or something like that. Oh, how wrong she was. The blonde Yamanaka just swung her arms around his neck and she responded as hotly to the kiss.

Sakura's head snapped to the left, where Kiba was standing, thinking that he'd be the one to stand up and punch people around. He, however, was smirking at the scene. The rest of them were, too. And then somebody started clapping and after that one person, everybody did. The whole classroom burst into applause. Sakura was stunned, too, but not too stunned to raise her arms and draw them together a few times. If not inappropriate for a girl with a boyfriend, the act definitely was brilliant in a way.

And finally, the two people on the little stage drew away from each other, all emotion on Sasuke's face gone. Ino, on the other hand, was compensating for that with loads of smiles and bright eyes.

Kakashi stood up carefully and while making his way up on the stage, he was clapping slowly, too.

" That was really good. You did a nice improvisation."

" A nice improvisation?" Sasuke echoed, his voice dripping with disbelief. " _Nice_?! Hell, I fucking kissed the co-...Hn. Whatever."

He jumped from the stage, annoyance written in his eyes, as he was making his way down back to Naruto. Ino didn't seem extremely happy either. She just sat back next to Kiba, who congratulated her quietly.

And Sakura was still looking around rather shocked. What was this? No normal school would approve of anything like that! And then, once again, she had to remind herself, that she wasn't in a normal school anymore. That she was in a Performing Arts Academy, that she was learning what it was to be a star.

" Sakura, right?" she turned quickly to Kakashi, whose eyes were staring right into hers. She nodded quickly. " Judging by the expression on your face you seem to be quite...what is it...startled?"

She tilted her head slightly, then smirked.

" Taken aback, actually. That really...that really was something. It just surprised me, that's all."

" It's good to see that you don't object the kisses, for in theater and movie industry, people can make you do far worse stuff. More embarrassing."

" I don't see what's embarrassing about a kiss." Sakura shrugged and before she was able to finish her thought, Kakashi laughed.

" Ha! That's right! You see that, kids? She's been here for ten minutes and she already thinks more like an actor than most of you, who've spend years with me trying to plant something in your empty heads!"

And once again, all heads were turned to her. And for a moment, she felt like snapping something at them, but the words of her new teacher were sinking deeper in her. That was a praise, wasn't it?

Way to go, Sakura!

Her inner self grinned widely, she herself, settled on a more concealed smile. Kakashi nodded at her, before turning around and writing something on the whiteboard, something about articulation. Nobody was copying it down, they were waiting for him to turn around and start speaking. And as she was looking around her classmates, her eyes stopped for a second on Sasuke.

OK, well. He wasn't just a looker. He was a talented looker. She hadn't expected him to be able to show off that much emotions in less than two minutes. And she suddenly realized what all these people were boosting about. He really deserved to be praised by everybody, he deserved the compliments. He was one hell of an actor!

And as she was staring at him like that, gawking would be a more appropriate word, actually, his head turned to hers in the speed of a lightning and his eyes immediately met hers.

And for the second time in just a week she got to experience what it was to be looked by a really gifted person with nothing written in their eyes.

* * *

Sasuke was fairly surprised by the fact, that she has accepted the whole thing so calmly. He was trying, he really was trying hard to find something...anything in her, that didn't shout 'art'. But with a painful feeling in his chest, he realized, that it was quite impossible. Every pore of hers was shouting it, screaming it, radiating it. There probably wasn't a more artistic person than her in there.

And more conserved, for the fact.

She wasn't letting much out. She was just giving smiles away. And those smiles were so good, so so good, that if he were a bit worse, he would think they were true. No, those smiles were like his. Forced, but so easily forced, that they seemed realistic. It was creepy to know, that there was somebody around, who'd actually be able to fool him.

Creepy, but in the same time fascinating.

It gets boring to be the best one, you see. And what is life without a bit of a challenge?

He simply decided to wait until next week's acting classes. He was positive, that Kakashi would assign more improvisations like that one and that time, he was going to pick Sakura, because she was the new student and the teacher would want to see what she was made of. And Sasuke was going to be entertained, no matter how good she was or how much she sucked.

Sasuke had other worries, too. He was pretty concerned about the fact, that Karin was going to return in time for the autumn play and if she were there, she'd totally get the lead female role. And since he was going to be the main male without any doubt, he was feeling kind of repulsed by the idea to have anything to do with Karin. But since she was the best female actor in their year, he didn't have really high hopes. But then again, Sakura was there and if she really was good enough to receive a look from Tsunade, then she was worth considering as an option.

And it would be better kissing Sakura and her pink lips than Karin and her big, annoying mouth. Besides, she wouldn't let him forget it anytime soon.

Whoops. Bad train of thought.

He shifted on his place uncomfortably, trying to listen to Kakashi and his speech about pronouncing clearly, so that people in the crowd wouldn't think that you're choking on a potato, but would actually hear your words. He already knew those stuff. Not only has Kakashi already explained it, he has read articles and books himself. Because that's what he was doing in his free time, he was reading to improve himself. And his brother was making him do maths and natural sciences, but that was on a completely different subject.

The bell didn't ring much later and when all of the people in the room stood up, he vaguely noticed how Kakashi pulled Sakura aside and she stayed behind. He was certainly giving her the materials to prepare herself for what her classmates already knew. Kakashi wouldn't want his reputation as a star-maker to go to hell because his students weren't prepared now, would he?

He continued down the hallway until he reached his locker and swiftly unlocked it and taking out his notebook for song writing class with such unease, that he almost considered the option of pretending to be sick and go back home. It would most probably work, he could be rather convincing.

However, Sasuke already had trouble with most of the teachers, because he was skipping their classes too much and besides, song writing wasn't _that_ bad. It was kind of irritating him, that he wasn't the best in other classes, too, but the comforting thought was, that being the top student in the most important one was compensating enough.

" Oi, teme!" Naruto approached him from behind and before he slapped Sasuke's back, like he usually did, the raven haired guy had the sense to move aside and close his locker to prevent the annoying feeling. " Mum said she was doing lasagna today and told me to invite you over. Besides, I bought the new game we were looking at and we should totally test it out."

Sasuke stared at the black door of his locker for a second, before nodding. He could not say no to an invitation for dinner from Kushina Uzumaki. The woman was the best cook he has ever met and just the thought of his dish made his stomach curl in anticipation.

" Awesome!" Naruto grinned and then adjusted the guitar case on his shoulder. " Man, did I tell you? I broke my clavier! You know how irritating it is to work on a guitar only?!"

" Yeah, I happen to know." Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Naruto looked at him darkly.

" Well, you picked it for yourself! It's your own fault."

Two years ago, when they had to decide on an instrument, Sasuke picked the guitar. He already knew the main things, his brother has taught him and he really did think, that it was a cool instrument, until he just got tired of it and from playing music, that was. He was good, definitely, in KAPA they had a really good music program.

Unfortunately, he could not get out of it. It was a must and now he had to stick to his guitar for two more years, until they graduated. It just wasn't his favourite thing to do. For Naruto, however, playing music was pretty important. Two years ago he'd picked piano as his instrument. And when he was good enough, he took in a guitar. And he also started drum lessons. And he knew how to play the triangle, but for that skill, Sasuke was pretty sure that everybody was qualified, although Naruto was trying to convince him, that it wasn't so.

He moved towards the next classroom, followed closely by Naruto and Kiba and Ino, who had just joined. Hinata was most probably already there.

Sakura was late for the class and just when she said 'Kakashi', she was excused quickly. She sat in the desk next to his and took out a notebook. Their work was to write a ballad, a song about love.

How unusual, he thought bitterly and took out a pen to start scribbling down the usual crap, that rhymed. Inbetween, he was trying to think of a new melody.

" You are really good." he heard her say and turned his head to the side. This was song writing class, people were talking, exchanging ideas, singing even. So a conversation wouldn't hurt. She was looking at him with those big emerald eyes, he hair pointing in practically all directions. Not that he was one to talk, his hair simply did not accept to go where he wanted it to be and instead decided on sticking out on the back of his head.

Then his brain registered the fact, that she was actually speaking to him and on top of that complementing. He cocked his head.

" Thanks." he looked at her again and produced a really fast, crooked smile. " You know that next time it's gonna be you up on the stage, right?"

" What?"

" Kakashi. He's going to make you act on the stage next time. Improvise."

" Oh, that...well..." she shrugged. "...I don't really care much. I'm here to learn, so I must show what I've got first, right? Besides, those plays of yours today were rather intriguing...do you guys always kiss in there?"

" Most of the times." he smirked, trying to see a trace of doubt in her expression. " Helps us get better - in both acting and kissing."

" Then you must be one hell of a lover."

" Wanna try me?"

She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, only her eyes shining mischievously. That gave her away. Finally, her lips curved in a smile.

" Leave it for the stage, baby."

She didn't say anything else, but turned back to her notebook and continued writing lyrics. He turned back to his, rather stunned.

Did that little girlie just have the last word? Had she really been able to find proper words to respond to his so called, friendly mockery? Without even flinching. no, quite the opposite, she had found it amusing.

Well, that was new. She was thinking like an actress. By the end of the class he'd been unable to think of anything else for that stupid song project. Instead, he almost jumped up in satisfactory, as the bell rang. And in the hallway, he quickly caught up to the rosette.

" You do know, that I was not kidding, right? We really do that, kissing, I mean...well, you saw it today. It's something usual."

" Yeah, I got it." she raised her eyebrows, as if she were waiting to hear more. More? Well, he was going to give it to her.

" You know that this is far less, that what real actors have to do, right? They mak them strip and walk bare and basically show off their bodies to the whole world if needed."

" I figured that's what kakashi meant with 'a lot more embarrassing'." she smiled sweetly.

" And you don't...you don't think it's weird?"

" Why, do you?" she shot back and he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

" Of course not, I have nothing to be ashamed of. But you're a girl. You girls are always way too self-conscious and you always whine about looks and weight-''

" Oh, bite me!"

She turned around, just when he laughed and followed her closely.

" Gladly!"

She stopped once again and he almost bumped into her back, before she turned around and eyes him with narrowed eyes.

" What the hell are you trying to do? Make me doubt about what I'm doing in here or make me go to bed with you?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly at the question.

" Both. And it doesn't have to be a bed...I am kidding..." he added, as she squinted her eyes even more. " I'm just trying to figure out what's that special about you. And what I said in class, about you being on the stage next week? Well, take that as a statement, that I'd be anticipating your performance. Tsunade says you're really good. She's practically always right, so...yeah, I really want to see what's the big deal about you, Pinky."

Sakura looked at him again, he eyes drifting from the top of his head to the end of his shoes. Then she smirked again.

" Call me Pinky once again and you disappear. Without any traces...and thank you, I guess...see you after the weekend, Sasuke."

After that, she turned around and marched out of the main hall of the building of KAPA. OK, what he thought earlier about the dreamy and innocent girl? Forget it, scratch it! A really complex, a source for brain wrecking questions source. Really controversial. he didn't know what she was like exactly, but he liked it so far.

It really got boring at some point to be surrounded by girls who only stick around with the hope some of your talent to rub off on them. But it was a completely different thing, when the girl in front of you was just like you. Equals.

That was positively going to be fun.

* * *

**Well, I hope you liked it!**

**Reviews would be highly appreciated, mostly for the fact, that I want to read what you think of this..so make sure to leave your thoughts in the review section below! :)**

**Thanks for reading! **

**Until next time!**

**xox**


	3. Chapter 3

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

Fucking idiot. Sakura could not believe how nerve that boy had in himself. And all of a sudden, although three days have passed from their last conversation, she still felt mad at herself for actually complementing him. He had, of course, deserved it because of his excellent performance, but he didn't have a need for it. His ego was too big for all she knew.

So now, sitting on the yoga mats in the acting classroom on the following Monday morning, waiting for Kakashi to arrive, Sakura was trying her best not to look at him and face that smug smirk on his stupid, gorgeous face.

She was going to see it soon enough, she knew that she'd be the first to climb on that stage for improvisation, or so has half of the class warned her. And she was ready. Ready to rub the crooked smile off of his face.

That was the spirit.

" Are you ready?" Ino rolled beside her. " I was nervous too, don't let it in, share. Don't worry, we've all been through this!"

" I'm not nervous, pig!" Sakura pushed her slightly with a smile. " No, quite the opposite, I'm tired of waiting. Is he always late?"

" Always. If he ever comes on time we'd know that either Tsunade's been shouting at him again or someone has died."

Sakura turned around and smiled at the blonde Naruto Uzumaki. The happiest and dumbest kid of her age she's ever met, he was too charming. He also seemed to be too obsessed with music and his friends. But that was normal, right?

He clumsily sat next to her and crossed his legs.

" I can't wait to see you up there. You're supposed to be good."

" She is. You heard what Ino said." Kiba smirked from her other side, while Hinata quietly sneaking into the circle.

" Ts-Tsunade-sama must th-think so t-too!"

" HEY!" Sakura couldn't control the volume of her voice, suddenly feeling incredibly annoyed, devastated even. Or probably just scared. " What the hell are all of you talking about? I am not supposed to be anything. If I were half as good as you people thought I was, then I wouldn't have been here, but at some casting in Hollywood."

" That is so, but polishing your skills in Konoha Arts is the first step." Naruto shrugged, while Sakura backed off a little. They felt so suffocating with their expectations. She never thought she were that good until that blonde director had looked at her for a mere second with empty eyes.

Sakura didn't dare to admit in front of them all, that she has felt like shit at that moment. She couldn't even manage to describe it to Ino, good heavens. She was so confused and irritated at that moment, that she has also lost her ability of talking. She simply looked away and concentrated on the patterns on the nearby pillow. Instead of listening to the people around her, she was staring at random objects. Way to go.

And that's how you go from determined to crashed, ladies and gentlemen, she thought bitterly and pulledthe pillow in her arms, clutching it tightly.

And then the door in the back of the room cracked open and Kakashi swiftly entered. Thank goodness, at lest Naruto and the others stopped talking. And her stomach suddenly felt like a clutched ball. Nerves. Seriously?

" Good morning, class!" he received a few low mutters and sighed in disappointment. " Good to see that you're all bright like a ray of sunlight! Anywho, improvisation time!"

Sakuraangrily bit the inner side of her cheek, before looking up to the teacher. He was looking at her without saying anything. She figured the meaning of it and stood up quickly, after Ino gave her a rather hard shove.

" OK. We have one. Are there any candidates?"

Sakura was surprised by the lack of any hands in the air, unlike the previous time, when there was a forest of them when Sasuke and Naruto were up. She felt extremely offended, until Kakashi spoke.

" Oh come on, chickens! Afraid that the new girl would put you to shame?"

There was a loud snort coming from Sasuke's direction and when Sakura looked up, he was already standing up slowly, majestically. Her stomach tightened once again, much to do with the fact that if she were acting alongside with him, she'd seem like the biggest of all fools. A piece of trash.

No. Nope, no, no, no! That was not going according to her plans. She was highly wishing, that she'd go up on the stage with somebody and seem absolutely flawless in her act and then he was going to come and tell her she was good enough to rival him. Those were her plans. But now everything was crumbling. How could she even bring two words together when she was supposed to play with him! Him, of all people in the stupid class.

That was some sick joke. Even Kakashi laughed.

" Ha! Look at that, class! We might even get to see a decent play..."

" You underestimate me, Kakashi." Sasuke said hotly, quietly while stopping beside Sakura without even looking at her, acting as if she were thin air. The white haired man gave him the most uninterested look that Sakura has ever seen on a, well, in a man's eyes.

" I couldn't care less about you today, Sasuke."

Take that!, Sakura's inner self shouted, while she tried to stop the laughter from erupting from her. She managed to handle the situation with a smirk, unlike some of her classmates, who either protested or weren't lucky enough to contain the joyful tunes caused by Kakashi's words. Giggle was filling the room, while Sasuke's jaw clenched visibly and he finally looked down to her with the same forced smirk he had on the last time they spoke.

" Give it your best shot, Pinky. I won't laugh, I promise."

Something in Sakura boiled to the reaching point and if it weren't her sane mind from stopping her, she would have swung her hand at Sasuke and probably punched the self esteem out of him. This guy was irritating. He was awful.

" I warned you about calling me that. We'll see who's going to be the laughing stock today."

Something in his eyes shone at the challenge and Sakura immediately felt like she shouldn't have said that. It was a freaking motivator for that monster! Damn.

Kakashi seemed to be enjoying that argument, but raised his hands cautiously to make them shut up.

" Before we start I have a question."

" A quiz?" Naruto's voice resounded through the room, terrified. " We only do that stupid shit with Kurenai!"

" Mrs Yuuhi, Naruto...Script writing is important." Kaskashi said tiredly. " And no, it's not a quiz. It's a simple question for those two over here."

Sakura eyed the teacher cautiously as he pointed at her and Sasuke. Was he going to ask them something about theater and techniques. Because if it were so she would be so damned. She has barely touched his materials and she knew almost nothing when it came to terms and meanings. Sasuke would blow her off. And laugh at her scarce knowledge, for sure.

" What do you think is the main point in 'Romeo and Juliet'?"

Sakura sighed in relief. Thank goodness she was listening to her literature teacher in her previous school. So tables were turning, eh? She was going to blow him off instead.

" It's...well...it's a beautiful tragedy about poisonous hatred conquered by love. It teaches people that love is important."

" You're such a_ girl!_'' Sasuke said it quietly, as if were an offence, before speaking up a tad louder. " I think it's a cautionary tale about the stupidity of youth and shallow lust."

" Shallow lust?!' Sakura's voice pitch suddenly changed. " Are you for real? You can't just...that's the greatest work of Shakespeare and all you can think of is _shallow lust_. God, Sasuke,_ you're such a boy_!"

" Well, it is shallow lust. The dude's seventeen. And she's like, what? Thirteen? It's insane. He could babysit her, but love her? Tch. And on top of that it happens in three days and six people get killed because of it."

" It doesn't matter how long it takes or what happens around. The important thing in these events is that love comes out as the greatest weapon in the world of wars."

" So you're trying to tell me that if you liked a guy you've known for three days you'd kill yourself for him?"

" Of course not, but-"

" See? I'm right."

" You certainly are not! You obviously don't know the meaning of love if you can't understand such a clear message from the play!"

That seemed to shut him up for a second, before he looked at her icily with so much hatred in his eyes, that she shivered.

" A girl who thinks that that story is actually a romance, a girl who's ignoring everything else...you can't possibly understand. And don't you talk to me about love. "

Sakura opened her mouth to respond hotly to his accusations, but Kakashi stepped in with a funny smile under his mask.

" I was right, that certainly was interesting. You can go back down."

" Aren't we improvising?" Sasuke asked, a bit taken aback, but no real wonder in his voice, just harsh, yet soft tones.

" No. At least not you two together."

Sakura opened her mouth, but Kakashi simply guided her to the steps on the side of the podium before she could make the words of anger leave the lump in her throat and she walked down to her spot next to Ino, stubbornly looking at the wall, as far as possible from the insolent Uchiha Sasuke.

Kakashi led Hinata and the weird guy Shino up on the stage instead and made them play a brother and sister at some supermarket arguing over product, which was boring so she didn't really watch it.

" What was all that about?" Ino whispered harshly in her ear all of a sudden, making Sakura almost squeak in surprise. She strained herself to glaring viciously, before biting the inner side of her cheek again.

" He wasn't right."

" He was. And so were you. There are different aspects."

" I don't accept his stupid theories about _lust_." Sakura hissed quietly, before checking on Kakashi who was commenting on the play of Shino and Hinata. " He's an idiot."

" An idiot, who's staring at you since you left the podium!"

Sakura looked up to Ino to only see that her eyes were fluttering in Sasuke's direction. Suddenly, the urge to pinch the blonde was too big. To hurt her in case she wasn't going to listen to her and her threats.

" Don't look at him!"

" Why?"

" Because...because I'm mad at him! You're my best friend, so you listen!"

Ino chuckled quietly, before staring back at Sakura's eyes with a raised eyebrow.

" You do want details, don't you?"

Sakura stared at her with a heaving feeling in her chest. Did she? Of course she did. Damn it.

" Does he seem really, really angry?" the rosette gave up after a few seconds of thoughts. Ino grinned and her eyes fled up one more time before fixating on the green emeralds on Sakura's face.

" No. Only entertained."

* * *

Sasuke didn't receive a word from Haruno Sakura in the following week. Not a single word, syllable or sound. Nothing at all.

Which was really kind of infuriating.

And it didn't get any better, when they went in acting and Kakashi completely ignored the fact, that he wanted to play on the stage, to improvise. Neither did he seem to notice Sakura's hand waving up in the air. He was picking everybody else, literally...Everybody, but them.

Sasuke shrugged it off. He must have gotten tired of Sasuke always being on the stage, although there was nothing to be tired of, in Sasuke's opinion. But why would he deny the rosette? Nobody has ever seen her improvise before, and Kakashi was always letting the new students go first. And Sasuke certainly did want to see what she was made of. Except, Kakashi didn't give him that chance.

Not that week, nor the following. Or the one after that. It was so, until one Thursday, Sakura stood up in front of him, before he could get out of the script writing classroom.

" We need to talk."

He raised one eyebrow. He knew what that would be about - he didn't really enjoy being ignored like that. She must have felt the same way. But judging by the serious expression on her face, the set jaw, the furrowed eyebrows...she hadn't quite forgotten about the argument they had had, no matter how useless it had been. Oh, well, there we go.

He left his bag on the nearest desk and leaned on it.

" I'm listening."

" You know perfectly well why Kakashi isn't letting us improvise. Why he's avoiding us."

" I do. I cannot change the fact, that he's stubborn though...it will pass at some point, he'll come to his senses and realize that classes with my acting are much more fascinating."

She didn't answer anything for a few moments, just looked at him like he was the dirtiest creature she's ever seen in her life and then snorted.

" That's exactly what I meant! You're a self-loving bastard!"

" I'm kind of confused now. How does that have anything to do with Kakashi?"

" That's the main thing, you...you asshole!" his eyebrows raised at the insult, that she obviously said with difficulty. Her eyes were angry. " I'm in this school because I want to learn how to act and you're taking that away from me!"

" Whoa, wait a second!" Sasuke raised his hands. " Where are you going with that? I haven't done anything to...corrupt your studies here! As I said, Kakashi is being a stub-"

" He's not being stubborn, can't you see?" she interrupted him, her hands waving around, gesturing. " He is waiting for me and you to go and ask him properly to play on that stage! It's called diverse psychology."

" How the hell would you figure that out?!"

" Deduction."

She turned around on him and grabbed her own bag and jacket. Then she looked back at him to meet his 'totally unimpressed' expression.

" Deduction. Really? So you just made it up?"

" Idiot." she sighed quietly, before raising her voice slightly to shush his words of protest. " I know you love acting, everybody can see it. And you hate the fact that you're being ignored as much as I do, if not more! So why don't you just trust me on this one? It's worth a shot, isn't it?"

Sasuke considered her words. Did Kakashi really just wait for them to go and ask him politely whether they could act or not? Well, it really wouldn't hurt to try...much. His ego was definitely going to wail about it for a while, but if he got to get back on stage, then it was worth it.

He gave her a quick nod, at which she grinned. A big, bright grin, that lit up her face. She looked cute when she wasn't sulking and wasn't looking at him murderously, even he had to admit that to himself.

" OK. Cool, we'll talk with him tomorrow before class."

And after that, she turned around and got out of the classroom as fast as a lightning.

Stupid girl.

He could not believe, that he hadn't thought of it first. That he hadn't realized, that Kakashi was actually waiting for them to whine about him not letting them play. That old, stupid, geezer. he was so going to get it!

And with such thoughts, Sasuke drifted off to the line of lockers, until he reached his... He threw in his textbooks and took out the scripts instead. He did not plan on going to Song Writing class. he did not need that bullshit.

Instead, he headed towards the back yard of the school, where there weren't supposed to be people. It was always empty during classes. And he did need to revise the lines of Hinata's "With the blooming of the spring". He had read the script more than once,more than twice, mroe than ten times and he did find it adorably average in every aspect of it all. Except the fact, that she has actually been writing about her feelings for the stupid dobe and probably Naruto was the only one who didn't know about it yet.

As a best friend, Sasuke was supposed to enlighten him probably, tell him, that this girl was falling head over heels for him. He, however, was arogant. If naruto couldn't see this, then he couldn't do shit. He was going to leave him cope with it alone. Besides, he didn't want to mess anything for Hinata. the girl was...well, she was just kind of there, constantly. But she wasn't bad. No, she was kind, always there to help if you needed it. And she definitely could not understand why she'd like a dumbass like his best friend.

Anyway. With a bottle of water in his hand, scripts in his other and the guitar case on his back, he headed outside, to only see that something wasn't quite right. There weren't supposed to be people out there. Pink haired peaople...

" What are you doing here?" she asked him coolly, once she got hold of him. " What are you doing now, following me?"

" Why the hell would I follow you?" he responded quickly, inserting enough roughness to put her on the edge. " I always come her."

" During your classes?"

" You're not one to speak right now, since you're slacking off,as well."

Sasuke left his guitar on the table she was sitting at under her burning glare. And then he sat and opened the script casually, not rreally interested enough in her presence.

" What are you reading that for?"

Sasuke looked up to her again. So what, she wasn't going to shut up, either? Tch.

" I'm rehearsing for the auditions this weekend. Why'd you care anyway?"

" Tsunade made me improvise on the first paragraph of it all."

Sasuke measured her with a cold glance, while she raised the can of Soda to her pink, pink lips. And then his eyes moved to the first paragraph of the whole script. Once, twice. Until he reached the conclusion, that she must have interpretet these stupid and boring words in a really fascinating way to actually get the principal to look at her. Damn, so she was good?

" Can I see it?"

She obviously knew what he had meant, since her eyes drifted to the script and then back on his face. With a little smile twitching her lips.

" Nope. You'll see me act tomorrow."

Bam. Disappointment. She's been studying here for two weeks now and she already had a reputation for one hell of an actress, but he hasn't even seen her yet. Damn it. Damn it all. Damn Kakashi for not letting her play on stage and damn Tsunade for even letting her here in the first place.

" Whatever." he managed. " I have to learn, so keep it down."

She made quite the show of sipping her soda as loudly as possible, until she got two raised eyebrows and dark, dark eyes from him. Then she chuckled and left the can on the wooden table. Shoved a hand in her bag and took out a biology coursebook.

" What's that?" Sasuke heard himself asking. And he saw her smirk as if she were looking down on him.

" That's biology. You know, the science that studies what you're made of?"

" I didn't mean that. Why're you learning biology."

" Because if the thing with the acting doesn't really do, I don't want to be left on the street, all stupid. With a predictable future of a whore. Wouldn't want to end up in a strip club if acting turns out to not be the right thing for me."

Sasuke was fairly amused by the fact, that she was being so confronting, so forward. And then he was surprised by the fact, that there were other people like his brother, who thought, that acting wouldn't ensure a calm life, although arts were what Itachi loved from the dephts of his heart and were his profession,a s well. He was making millions for every movie he was shooting. He was fucking famous, so he was the least one to wory about acting and the future it brought to you. However, he was making Sasuke do maths with private teachers and he was making him study chemistry and biology and geography, physics and history. As if Sasuke needed this. Acting was his future. And if it didn't work out for him, he didn't know what he was going to do.

He erased that thought. Acting was what he was best at. He was already with one leg in the business. He was not just good, he was really good.

But the fact, that this girl was reading something except for the materials and manuals for song and script writing, made him shift uncomfortably. So that head of hers wasn't empty underneath the pink hair. Damn. Stupid people are easier to handle. And she...she was a girl. A smart girl. Obviously talented, judging by the rumors...definitely something unique.

And as if he hadn't thought at all, he shrugged.

" Good for you."

And then he returned to the script, feeling her intense glance on his forehead.

But he didn't give a damn.

He had eyes for the text only. For the lines and the words, that he had to memorize.

He had a heart for his acting only. And probably, just probably, for his brother...but only a little.

And he had a brain for thinking. And knowing stuff. Like how this girl was a threat to him. How she might turn out to be better.

_No, don't be silly,_ he repeated to himself mentally, _she's just a confused girl, who needs to sort out her priorities. That's all_.

He looked down to the script and started reading. Reading, but not exactly understanding. His head wasn't in it. He couldn't concentrate. Not with her in front of him, green eyes moving through the words in that biology book of hers, lips mouthing silently the words that she was reading.

And another thought came to his mind. That girl was not only smart and talented. It was also beautiful. Not pretty-pretty, but beautiful. And absolutely unique.

The heart-shape of her face and the green eyes, that were shining with so much in them...the full lips, almost constantly twitched in a smile, the little, slender body, covered under skinny jeans and loose sweaters...she was definitely something.

And she was so colorful! Pink, green, white, violet, yellow...

He looked down to his own clothes. Gray T-shirt. Black jeans. Black boots. Dark hair and dark eyes. White skin.

It was like she was the first copy of a printer and he was the last - when there wasn't enough ink to get it right, so it just turned out black and white and grey.

And he hated it. It felt, like it was so with the capacity of them, as well. As if she had more talent than him, as if he had only the leftovers. And that didn't exactly cheer him up.

He felt intimidated. And by who?

By this little, crazy patchwork of colors.

* * *

**Well, I hope you liked it!**

**Reviews would be highly appreciated, mostly for the fact, that I want to read what you think of this..so make sure to leave your thoughts in the review section below! :)**

**Thanks for reading! **

**Until next time!**

**xox**


	4. Chapter 4

**Changed my name, y'all, I hope we will avoid any confusions! :)**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

_**Chapter 4**_

Sasuke looked at the teacher as insolently as ever, returning the ignorant glance of the white-haired adult, who was barely looking at them from above the pages of his little, orange book. Such humiliation. Tch.

"So...can we participate in the classes now?" Sakura asked as quietly, not raising her voice like she dared when she was speaking with him. No, she was nothing like it. She was looking at Kakashi with a gently, sweet smile, her big, green eyes shining with hope.

Sasuke couldn't believe how good she was at doing this. How good she was at getting to people's heads. And he knew, that she had just managed to convince Kakashi to let them improvise again, because the man actually closed the book and turned both his eyes towards them.

"Whose idea was this?"

Sasuke looked at her to only meet her burning, green stare. Then he jugged his chin carelessly at her direction and waited for the response of their mentor.

Kakashi measured them carefully, Sasuke could feel his eyes burning holes in his head, but decided to wistfully ignore them. But he could not just miss the steadiness in his eyes, the set jaw and the slightly raised eyebrows.

"Do you understand why I didn't let you go on the stage for the past weeks?"

"Of course. We were disrespectful. We-...I shouldn't have shouted up there and I apologize for it now." Sakura said, but Sasuke noticed the way her teeth were slightly gritted at the end of the sentence. As if it were hard for her to actually admit something like that, to say it out loud. As if she felt ashamed. That thought only entertained him.

"Wrong," the white haired acting teacher stated. "...you were sitting on the mats for weeks, because you obviously don't understand what it is to be an actor. Alright, I expected that from Sakura, 'cause she's new, but from you, Sasuke..."

The Uchiha rolled his eyes. He had known from the beginning, that the conversation would take such a turn at some point. Because, really, he was in this school for his third year now, and yes, he was obviously the best, but no, he still didn't have a damn clue what Kakashi meant now.

"It's the fact, that you can't work with each other. Actors don't get to pick their on-screen friends and lovers, so in case you want your dreams to come true, you have to learn to adapt to the surroundings."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura blurted, while Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance. What the hell was so damn unclear in 'adapt to the surroundings'. And for a while he had actually thought, that she was smart. Maybe she was a blonde under that pink hair dye.

"It means," Kakashi started, drawing back Sasuke's attention. "That you two are going to spend a week together."

Sasuke needed a second to actually think about what he had just heard. Sakura obviously was faster.

"I am not spending a week with him! No way in hell!"

"Oh, yes. Yes, you are." Kakashi said, his trademark smile beneath the mask. "Starting tomorrow, you're to spend your whole days together. Eat together, study together, sleep together, live together, damn, even go to the toilet together."

"No." Sasuke stated quietly, while Kakashi chuckled.

"Yes. I am your teacher, I'm saying so."

"What's the point?!" Sakura shrieked and when Sasuke actually looked at her, he was surprised, that the whole camouflage of the sweet happy-go-lucky girl was gone. She was now the dive, that had shouted at him with that dreamy look in her eyes, the girl with the burning eyes, the girl, that was cussing with difficulty and that was being too damn rational for an actor. His actual enemy.

"The point is, that you will be viewing this as a role you're playing." Kakashi said and carefully lifted up the book again. Sasuke sighed. Damn, lost cause. He was reading again. SO he really had to spend a week with that color freak?! He needed an eye-patch. A solid one. And really, really good earphones. "And don't think it's because I'm trying to punish you or something. Just a new method. Everybody is going to do it for three days. But since I sense the mutual disliking here, I'll have to make it a week. You might not want to argue like before after that."

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and just crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked really grumpily at the teacher.

"No way in hell am I letting that pervert anywhere near my bed or my bathroom."

"Pervert?" Kakashi shot a really entertained look at him, while he snorted loudly. You make one snarky comment and they start calling you a pervert? Tch. "And I fear you'll have to deal with this yourselves. No exceptions from the rules, though. Meet me tomorrow before the classes in my office to give you additional details. Are we clear?"

"Yeah."

"Hn."

Kakashi measured them with a glance once more, before spinning on his heel and disappearing in the mass of students in the hallway in front of his classroom. Old geezer.

Sasuke turned around to see Sakura's reaction to all of that. And she was staring at him once again, angrily. Or maybe sorry?

"I am not going to spend my whole days with you, I hope you know that."

"Hn, I didn't plan on such a thing either."

"Good." she nodded and then sighed. " Whatever. At least we get to play now."

Sasuke had to agree with that. They have made their way back up to the stage, so it hardly mattered anymore. That's what they had wanted in the first place, so now, that they managed to fulfill it, they were supposed to be satisfied.

He, however, wasn't really happy. He wasn't sad or angry, no, just a bit irritated. What was that old man thinking? Did he even know what he was doing? Making seventeen-year-old teenagers sleep and live together for a few days, what did he want? The number of people in his class to multiply? Tch, stupid geezer with old beliefs.

Sasuke didn't even want to start thinking what would happen if Ino and Kiba were put together. The start of the sexocalypse ,maybe, or something like that.

He didn't have time to think about it anyway, because the bell, indicating the start of their class, rang. Sasuke looked back at Sakura to see her watching at him with a hopeful expression in her eyes.

"He will let us now..."

Sasuke nodded, because he really wanted to convince himself, that such a thing was about to happen, then followed her to the inside of the room. Most of their classmates were already seated on the mats, discussing hotly the upcoming auditions for the holiday showcase. He was rather excited, too. He was going to play the lead (well, he hadn't auditioned yet, but it was rather obvious that there was no better male actor than him in the damned school), so it meant a lot to him. And hopefully Karin wouldn't be back in time for the auditions, so he'd at least have a new stage partner. The redhead was rather annoying and predictable, not fun to work with.

He sat down beside Naruto, who started talking about some gig he was doing that weekend, but Sasuke wasn't really listening to him. He wouldn't be able to go to the gig anyway - it was during the auditions. Instead, he was wondering, whether Sakura would audition for the play, because if she didn't and Karin wasn't here, then Ino'd get the role. And he did not want to have anything to do in common with that girl. Yes, she was talented and pretty, which would be enough, if it wasn't for her shallow personality. Her hobbies were gossiping and shopping, her two moods were flirtatious and irritating and her favorite food was sugar. Sasuke hated sugar. So no, the blonde wasn't his first choice either.

And then he looked back to the pink haired hurricane and frowned. Well, what if she did get the role? Then he'd be stuck with her not only for that one week, but for much, much more, until the showcase. He'd have to keep up with her stubbornness so much time. On the other hand, he was going to see her act, but he was going to do so in about ten minutes anyway, so that was irrelevant.

He decided, that he did not want to think about that now. not when Kakashi already entered and started explaining about the auditions. Not when the improvisations would begin in a minute.

* * *

"Get up here!" Kakashi commanded and she finally felt something twitch in her. The tangle from irritation, anger and boredom was finally fading away, being replaced by excitement and happiness. She jumped on her feet and almost sprinted to the little stage under the glances of her classmates. She could hear them mutter, she could see them gawk and she grinned. They were finally going to see the subject of the gossip in her own habitat.

That was a thought, that was supposed to make her shiver in displeasure, in displease. Instead, the same ball of happiness twitched and she felt like it had at least doubled its size.

She didn't even care, that Kakashi asked Sasuke-the-prick to join her up on the stage. She felt majestic, as if she could do anything. And so, when Kakashi handed each of them a little script and when she looked down to it and read the name of the play, she laughed heartily.

'Romeo and Juliet'. How appropriate for the two of them.

Her laughter earned her a few confused glances, but she ignored them and looked up to the face of The Prick with a major 'P' to see him smirking knowingly. Bastard. She was going to crush him (and a part of her reminded, that he was really, really good and that it would be hard to actually make him feel lesser, but she decided to ignore it).

"Act 1, Scene 5, Page 5." Kakashi said loudly and clearly, while he was sitting in the emptied by Sasuke place. Sakura raised her eyebrows and started going through the pages of the scripts she was holding, until she reached the said paragraph they had to play. When her eyes fell on the first line of it, she knew, where this was going.

All her happiness evaporated and was replaced by nerves in her lower stomach. She looked up to Sasuke, to see him smirking at her temptingly, as if he had anticipated her reaction. Her will was more than enough to keep her straight with a calm face, because otherwise she would have punched him. And she would have enjoyed it too much.

Instead, she was brought back to reality by the skin brushing against her palm and when her brain actually started functioning, she reached the conclusion, that Sasuke was taking her hand, like he was supposed to, like it was written in the script. He then looked at her and she suddenly started envying Ino. How did that girl manage to keep thinking properly after such a handsome man looked at her _that_ way! And touching her hand?! God...

When he started speaking, the words were soft, quiet, but sure and demanding.

"Your hand is like a holy place that my hand is unworthy to visit. If you're offended by the touch of my hand, my two lips are standing here like blushing pilgrims, ready to make things better with a kiss."

She felt the blush creeping on her face, because, although the words were meant to be said, they poked something in her. Something, that didn't want to be touched, something, that she was trying to keep as far away from that boy as possible. And he found it.

Instead of taking that for a bad sign, she decided to use it in her favor. The blush, the slightly shaking voice, the gazed look - that would complete her image of the falling in love girl.

"Good pilgrim, you don't give your hand enough credit. By holding my hand you show polite devotion. After all, pilgrims touch the hands of statues of saints. Holding one palm against another is like a kiss."

Sasuke's expression slowly changed again into something, that she recognized as hidden sarcasm of a boy from a few centuries ago. She couldn't believe how good he looked with the little smile, that showed his white, perfect teeth, or how tempting he sounded, when he spoke.

"Don't saints and pilgrims have lips too?"

"Yes, pilgrim—they have lips that they're supposed to pray with."

She saw Sasuke's eyes scanning the page, before he turned towards her and caught both her arms, the pages from his script against her wrist, the fire in his eyes burning only inches away from her face.

"Well then, saint, let lips do what hands do. I'm praying for you to kiss me. Please grant my prayer so my faith doesn't turn to despair."

Sakura let a little smirk appear on her face, after she read her following line, she let her voice become softer, she let it become more feminine, in a way.

"Saints don't move, even when they grant prayers."

Sasuke had already read the words and he was looking at her with a smirk. She knew what was coming, too. She just didn't want to admit, that she actually felt excited and in the same time frustrated.

"Then don't move while I act out my prayer."

He leaned in closer and suddenly, she could feel his scent. The mint hit her senses and she felt enchanted. The faint smell of cigarettes, the faint smell of a long ago applied deodorant, the faint smell of frost. He smelled like winter, she decided. And it was ensnaring her senses...

She was too lost in her own thoughts, until she felt hot, damp lips pressing against hers. And that's when she almost lost it completely. Completely...She still was conscious, after all, she knew where she was and she did manage to actually suppress her urge to wrap her hands around him and deepen that shallow peck. With much difficulties, but she managed to!

She felt too disoriented, when he momentarily stepped back and looked at her with a funny expression.

"Now my sin has been taken from my lips by yours."

She was confused for a moment, she wasn't able to think, because of the eruption of emotions in her, of feelings and senses, smells and tastes. And when she looked at him, she was pretty aware, that he knew, how she felt. Hell, she didn't want to give him another reason to act like an asshole. Yes, he was gorgeous and electrifying, but she hadn't forgotten his behavior. She looked down to her script. And was about to frown, but managed to stop it. She said her words with a shaky voice.

"Then do my lips now have the sin they took from yours?"

"Sin from my lips?" Sakura shivered at the hoarseness of his voice. Damn, wasn't it sexy as hell. " You encourage crime with your sweetness. Give me my sin back."

And then he leaned in again, and this time, his lips weren't only dancing on hers like a butterfly. No, this time he pressed them against hers hard. And she responded as hotly. She barely took notice of the hand touching her small back, she barely took notice of the hand, cupping her cheek. Only vaguely, she wondered what had happened with his script.

And just when she thought, that it was perfect, he opened his lips and she breathed out in ecstasy; he was deepening the kiss and she could taste the mint in his mouth, she could taste the bitterness of cigarettes, she could taste the frost and the winter. And she _loved_ it.

And then it just stopped. Just...ended. As fast as it had begun, it was over now.

She felt like complaining, like pulling him back for another kiss, like jumping on his neck. But the eruption of applause on her right side made her come back to reality and actually remember, why she was there.

She was in her acting class. Sasuke was with her in that class. They had to play the scene from the play. And he kissed her, because he had to, not because he wanted to. And he wasn't guilty, that he was _so good_!

Sakura looked to the ground to hide the blush, caused by her thoughts. After three heavy breaths, she looked up to her classmates.

Ino was smiling victoriously, proudly, Kiba was wolf-whistling, because he was an idiot, Hinata was smiling sweetly, with her deep red constant blush, Naruto was repeating how 'he'd been sure, that it would be good' and Shikamaru was staring at her really creepily, with fascination burning deep down in his usually dead and lazy stare. But the best reaction she could see out there was Kakashi's slow nodding. And the clapping of her classmates, the congratulations, the 'wow'-s.

She suppressed her grin and waited until Kakashi stood up from his place and looked at them quietly, while the cheers were decreasing their volume.

"Now, now...wasn't that a pretty brave kiss for the fifteenth century?" he said, but the smile was visible even through the mask. "That was rather good, really fascinating, I may add. I felt the energy in the actions. Sasuke, the amount of flirt in your act must have been a tad more, than what Shakespeare had been imagining...but it was acceptable. Just right enough for a modern interpretation."

Sakura looked up to Sasuke to see the smug smirk on his lips. Damn, did that guy ever smile or was it just stupid smirks? Idiot. He was too self-centered and self-loving and sure in himself. Arrogant.

"And you, Sakura..." the rosette almost felt her heart stopping. She looked up to the teacher and felt like she felt in front of Tsunade. Like nothing. " Your performance...I have no words. Outstanding! The way you managed to get in the character of a young, shaken, fallen head-over-heals girl. It was good, really good."

And Sakura was feeling her insides like a balloon, that was growing bigger and bigger, until she looked at Sasuke victoriously to only meet his stoic and harsh glance. After a few more words about their 'magnificent performance', they headed back to their respective places on the floor and Sakura was immediately surrounded by her closest friends, who started congratulating her. Sasuke didn't lack attention either, but she could still feel the iron glare in the back of her head. _What_ was his problem?!

She couldn't ignore him. Not anymore. Not now, that she could feel the faint taste of mint on her lips and that she could still feel his odor and his presence.

Not after that kiss, God damn it!

She looked back to the whiteboard, where Kakashi was writing down the dates for some open-doors-day in some studio, but she really didn't care about mechanical stuff, that only the technicians on set did. She was an actress.

And as one, she was supposed to know, that that kiss meant nothing! Nothing, with a big 'N'. Mostly, because it was with The Prick, and second, because he had to kiss her because of the script. She wasn't supposed to care, because she had to take it like an actress, like a part of her daily routine and she knew she wasn't supposed to think that much about the amazing smell and taste and the amazing feeling of skin against skin.

She wasn't, but she did anyway.

* * *

Cherry trees.

Big, pink, beautiful cherry trees.

He stopped in the middle of the street, when he saw them, a certain face of a certain pinkette floating in his mind vaguely.

Sasuke couldn't believe how much of an amateur he turned out to be. He had lost control of himself. He had let the thing crawl out of its cage for a mere second, which resulted in him going in too deep.

She was dangerous, not on a physical, but on a psychical level. She was doing things to him. Things, that normally didn't happen.

Like him letting go for a second and it resulting in a childish hooking on the stage, amateurish snogging, when it was supposed to be a chaste kiss from the time of Shakespeare. And he'd blown it, he knew that. He had let her cloud his mind, make him hear and smell and see and feel only her. And he had failed.

Happily, nobody else had noticed. Kakashi had interpreted it as a 'modern interpretation'. OK, good enough cover if anybody asked. But nobody did, because he was good at acting and Sakura was-too. And that was the other issue.

She was too good. More than he had expected. He hadn't thought, that she might be better than Ino, better than Karin. But she was, and not only by little. What she was doing, she was doing it from her heart, unlike so many other people.

She was doing it just like him. Maybe even better. Damn it.

She was too much of a threat. And with those lips of hers. Sasuke pressed his together at the memory of them -soft, pink, tempting. Man, couldn't she kiss. Vaguely, he wondered how many boys she's practiced it before to reach the perfection, and although he didn't want to care, he did. How many other people were aware of the hotness of her lips against their, how many idiots out there have had the luck to receive such special tending? Irrationally, he felt angry. Tch.

He hurried down to his apartment. It was too much to think about and so he was going to go take a shower and then prepare something to eat and finally devote some time to practice of Hinata's play. He needed to be prepared.

So he sped up, thinking only about his plans for the rest of the day.

But that was work for the following hour. And then he had nothing else to do. That's why he sighed heavily, when he already knew the first three pages of the script by heart and turned towards the TV.

Nothing better to do, he decided and hopped on the couch, while starting it. He started changing the channels until he would find some interesting movie to watch or some interesting quiz show. Instead, he stopped like dead, when he saw a familiar face on the screen.

Itachi.

Sasuke straightened up on the couch and scanned the TV. That was in interview, because his brother was dressed in his suit top and his black jeans, his hair gathered in the usual ponytail, his black eyes shining playfully, a smile on his lips. There was a woman beside him, who was currently speaking, her hair was purple, styled in a careful bun with messy curls. He didn't miss the other people behind them, too. Only men, about seven of them, who were smiling and nodding at the woman's words. And then he looked to the other side to take a look at the interviewer. A plain man with a plastered, rehearsed smile.

"So, the première of the movie was only a few days ago...I watched it, of course, and one question has been haunting me since...about the scene, where you slap the main hero in the outburst of fury...how did it feel like, Konan?"

There was laughter from the people on the couch, the actors, Itachi grinned again, while the purple-haired Konan giggled.

"That was my favorite scene to shoot! It wasn't turning out properly, while we were trying to do the stage fighting, that's why I really slapped him with all my strength...that was the take, that got to the movie."

"My cheek still stings." Itachi added and Sasuke shivered. That was the first time he was hearing his brother's voice in a rather long time. Last time he'd heard it, it was in the cinema, when he went to the première of "Akatsuki" with Naruto. It just wasn't the same.

"So now I'll know not to piss you off!" the interviewer said with a smile, before straightening his face. "Now, let's be serious. What was the worst part of filming the whole movie?"

"Oh, traveling that much." Konan said quickly, surely. " Of course, it was fascinating to explore new places, but traveling almost twenty hours becomes a bit too much. Especially when we had to go to Norway. It was so cold!"

"Could be really nasty, the cold, yes..." the interviewer nodded and turned to Itachi. " And for you? The same thing probably?"

"No, not really. I like traveling, so that wasn't an issue for me." Sasuke's older brother said, then looked around thoughtfully. "The worst part was being away from my brother for so long. I couldn't get him with me on set, because I wasn't allowed to and because he has school to attend. But yeah, now that the movie is already out, I'll be heading home for a while."

Sasuke shivered and he really couldn't understand why. His brother was coming home! He was coming back! Finally!

"Lovely!" the interviewer said quickly, before leaning in. "About your brother, Sasuke, right? He attends your former high school, I believe, right?"

"That's right." Itachi answered, his face a bit more stern. "Konoha Academy for Performing Arts."

"Oh? KAPA? So he's following his bigger brother's footsteps, eh? About to become an actor?"

"I really do hope so!" Itachi said with a really conserved smile. Sasuke knew, that he didn't like talking about his family in interviews, he didn't like giving away information about his sacred people. And he appreciated it, really, but what was the point? In a few months or years, depending on the circumstances, Sasuke would be in that couch in the studio, being interviewed. Being asked questions about his own life. So the world would know everything about him anyway.

"Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing!" the interviewer turned to the crowd in the studio. "Having two talented Uchihas, instead of one? Man, you got me. I don't know about you all out there viewers, but I am already anticipating young Sasuke's debut!"

The crowd in the studio cheered and that's when the interviewer finally changed the subject and turned his attention to the minor actors, lined up behind Konan and Itachi, who were looking at the cameras, smiling.

Sasuke turned the TV off. He had had enough. He couldn't believe how transperent and shallow those smiles were. If they were going to smile, then at least they should have made it seem realistic.

Sasuke knew about his brother and how he was acting just because he wanted to forget. his brother didn't love acting the way he loved music. he just turned out to be good at it and the right people noticed it. The rest was history - red carpets, movies, awards, interviews fanbases all over the words, millions of dollars, lack of personal space. His brother was a star. And he was now paying the price for not making the right choices in time.

Sasuke, however, wanted everything, that his brother loathed so much. He wanted the fame, because he loved acting and, unlike his brother, he'd appreciate the calls from the directors, asking him to star, he'd appreciate all the fans screaming for him, he'd appreciate every opportunity to spend his life filming movies. That was his dream. Hopefully, a soon-to-be-reality.

And Itachi...that didn't matter anymore for him. Neither did it for Sasuke, for the record, he was just happy, that his brother was coming home. His brother was coming home and it was going to finally feel like he had a family, too. Like he had people, who loved him more than anything. People, who cared for him and whom he cared for. That was Itachi for him. A brother. A best friend.

And suddenly, that was all that mattered. No Sakura, no Naruto, no Kakashi, no showcase, no script, no play, no auditions, nothing. Just Itachi and him coming home.

Sasuke looked around and frowned.

Wasn't he damned. Itachi was a neat and tidy person. And he was messy, unkempt, piggish. Just a look at the apartment he had been in charge of for the last eight months was a good enough proof. Clothes all over the place, old food, papers, scripts and song lyrics flying all over the place. Forgotten bills, stains on the carpet, a broken shelf...

And that made him laugh quietly for a second.

Itachi's reaction to this mess would be priceless.

* * *

**Nice, well, that's it for today. I'm sorry I hadn't uploaded in quite some time, but hey, busy!**

**I just want to make it clear, that this kiss wasn't meant to be an act of undying love, just a scene from a script they had to play out. That's all :)**

**Reviews would be highly appreciated, so please make sure to leave your opinion of this chapter in the section bellow! :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Until next time!**

**xox**


	5. Chapter 5

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

_**Chapter 5**_

" You are not allowed to do this!"

The hysterical shriek of the rosette almost penetrated Sasuke's eardrums, or so he thought. The fact, that his annoyance was increasing with every passing second wasn't helping much either. He just closed his eyes and let the sigh escape his lips.

He should have known. This was Kakashi, after all, and it was probably sciantifically proven, that he had some serious issues. Like,_ really_ serious.

" You can't handcuff us!" Sakura tried wailing again, but the silver haired teacher, didn't seem to listen. She hissed at his ignorance and as Sasuke was observing her actions, she turned around and viciously glared at him. As if it were his fault, tch.

" My class, my rules." Kakashi said with a sly smirk, which made Sasuke think, that the geezer was probably enjoying this a bit too much.

Sakura, however, didn't seem to find it funny at all. She started speaking hotly again, gesturing with her hands, thus making Sasuke's right arm move frantically around her, because it was cuffed to her left wrist. The clanking of the metal cuffs was annoying, he decided. He wondered what it would be like listening to it a whole week.

A whole week cuffed to Sakura Haruno. Sakura Haruno, who was currently hissing and cussing with her shaky voice, trying to somehow avoid this situation. Sasuke didn't find it really pleasing either. A whole week with that freak so close, he was going to have to sleep with one eye open, in case the nutthead decided to chop his arm off or something just to free herself. She was mental, too. No wonder she was that good of an actress.

" I have a question," he said quietly and raised his right arm, making Sakura hiss poisonously, because her arm got stopped in mid air, as he pulled stronger. "...how am I to audition in Sunday with her hanging on my hand like this?"

" Hanging...?! Why, you little-"

" That," Kakashi interrupted, his sly smirk turning into a crooked smile. "...is entirely your problem now. It would be fun to watch, though."

" But, Kakashi-sen-"

" I said, Sakura, this is entirely your problem now. There is a meaning behind this whole exercise, I already told you. You have to adapt to your surroundings, you need to be able to work properly with everybody. And you two are like the North and South Pole, completely different. Thus, the best match for this exercise."

" So, guinea pigs?" Sasuke muttered quietly and sensed, that Sakura might have heard him, because she suddenly pulled her arms and crossed them in front of her chest. The way the metal cut into his skin when she pulled was unpleasant. It was like a momental sting, which, of course, he reacted to. He pulled back his arm, making her swing at her spot (because, let's face it, he was at least ten times stronger than Dollface).

" You see that, sensei?!" she almost shouted in the empty classroom. " How am I supposed to live with that creature a whole week?! How am I supposed to eat and sleep and go to the toilet and shower, for God's sake?!"

Kakashi stood up from his chair and for a second, Sasuke thought, that he might have reconsidered. After one second of glancing at the unfazed expression, though, he lost all hope. So he was going to spend the entire week with the bubblegum-pink-nightmare.

OK, maybe he was exaggerating, but it was definitely better than neglecting the situation. It was her screaming around about it being unfair, not him. She was the one out of both of them, who was more likely to be plotting a murder, not him. Her, not him!

" Entirely. Your. Problem." Kakashi said quietly, ponouncing each word clearly. Then he cleared his thought and picked up his book. " If you'll excuse me now, I have some pretty serious matters to attend."

" Liar." Sasuke snorted, but the man was already getting out of the room, leaving two teenagers behind -one of them seemingly bothered to death and the second one - hyperactive colorful mess with psychological problems.

The first few seconds were a bit tense, Sasuke could feel the burning stare of Sakura on his temples, as if she were challenging him to look back at her. He knew, however, that if he did, matters would only get worse - she would start screaming at him, accusing him etc. In other words, something he'd want to avoid.

" We can't do anything about it." he muttered quietly, wondering whether he was triggering the bomb or actually deactivating it slowly. " It's just one week. We should do it, or otherwise he won't stop bothering us. It shouldn't be hard if we...if we...compromise."

He felt a slight pull at his hand, when she shifted in her spot.

" Compromise?"

" Compromise."

There was a moment of silence again, he wasn't moving, she wasn't moving, only heavily breathing. He dared look at her for a moment. She was looking down at the floor, pink locks falling around her heart-shaped face, the little body covered in the loose T-shirt and the skinny jeans looking so fragile with her twisted arms. She looked so small. She shifted in her place again and for a second, he got a glimpse at her face. Her mouth pursed into a thick line, the brows slightly furrowed, her ees - watery, blurry...wait, what?

Sasuke tried to look away, but failed miserably. She was crying. Why the hell was she crying?

His first thought was, that she was probably scared or repulsed by him. Spending a week with him wouldn't be that much of an excitement if that were the issue. He reconsidered after a second thought. That same girl, the same pink haired diva from the stage, the fire he saw on the stage yesterday, the spirit he had encountered many times...that was Sakura Haruno, not this crying mess. So no, it wasn't because of him. (At that part his ego purred sweetly, nobody dared even think of Sasuke Uchiha as repulsive!)

After standing like that for a few seconds, Sasuke figured, that it was probably because she was powerless in that situation, that probably she was angry at herself and those weren't sad tears, but tears from the pissed-off stage.

Sasuke felt irrationally angry. What was she doing?! Why was she crying on him, damn it?! Se wasn't supposed to do that! She wasn't supposed to cry like that! She was an actress! She was supposed to be able to keep her emotions hidden, she was supposed to be able to control them.

Sasuke froze in the middle of his thought, because he wasn't one to talk after what had happened the previous day. He, himself had let emotions take over, he had let go of control for mere seconds up on the stage at the acting class... But despite the time, he had done it, so he decided on leaving her be.

" Come on, we'll be late for music class."

As he proceeded to make a step towards the door, the chain of the cuffs was there to remind, that he wasn't in this alone. And when he turned around to look at Sakura, he was surprised to see nothing from the tiny, crying girl. No, there was only the crazy dreamer.

" If you think that you'll be doing this for a whole week, think again! You're not going to boss me around just because of Kakashi's fucking exercises!"

" Bossing around? What? I just said, that we - "

" I do not care what you want, what you wish for, what you think...you said it yourself, compromising. We should do that."

Sasuke was still lost. He was just trying to point out, that they'd be late for class, but she seemed to be living some drama or something. Anyway, he settled with an annoyed roll of his eyes and raised his eyebrows theatrically.

" Shall we go now, then, Pinky?"

She spared him a glance, before making a step forward, towards the door. Then it happened, he felt the pressure, before her war cry. She stomped her heel on his foot, and then looked at him pleasantly, while he was processing the damage done to his leg. He writhed and bend down with a wince. OK, so maybe she wasn't as weak.

" I think I told you something about calling me that!"

Then she stomped off, her hand, cuffed to his, pulling while she walked. And Sasuke irrationally felt like a little dog, being taken out on a walk. He glared viciously at her, before straightening up and keeping up with her pace.

" Crazy bitch."

She stared at him and he didn't care whether she'd punch him or slap him or even bite him. He'd endure it. The pleasure from offending her was worth it. Instead, she looked at him with a trace of a smirk on her rose lips, a hint of a glint in her emerald, shiny eyes. She looked intrigued.

One week.

Just one week...

* * *

Naruto looked up to her eyes, then back to the cuff on her hand, then up to Sasuke and finally, he burst out laughing. Sakura felt like punching him - wasn't it enough, that she had to stand so close to the Prick?!

" Shut up, dobe." Sasuke muttered darkly, earning an approving glance from Sakura for the first time in the day. Honestly, he was taking this much better than her. He seemed so calm, so relaxed about it. Obviously he didn't have such a problem with staying like that for a week. They hadn't talked about it yet, just the compromising shit she didn't actually think would work out. And while their friends had to do the same exercise as them, they weren't cuffed. Damn. And they seemed to be having a tad too much fun with the situation.

Especially Naruto and Ino. The two stupid blondes were goofing around, bugging everybody and trying to make as much fun as possible of Sakura and Sasuke. So, naturally, Sakura decided to ignore them as much as she could.

" Where are you going to stay, then?" Shikamaru asked lazily, he was probably the only one who wasn't merely intrigued by their situation, so Sakura thought, that he deserved an answer. Sasuke must have thought the same thing, because he shrugged beside her.

" My place, of course." she said quickly and smiled at Shikamaru, who raised his eyebrows.

" What about your brother, Sasuke?"

" Itachi? What about him?"

" Don't tell me you don't know." Shikamaru muttered, while Sakura narrowed her eyes from him back to Sasuke, who seemed as confused. The lazy guy just groaned and picked up his backpack, while muttering something under his breath. When he found what he was looking for, he handed it to the Prick. Sakura noticed the newspaper.

Damn. Which seventeen year old boy read a newspaper? She flashed Shikamaru a partly irritated look, before returning her glance on the first page, where a big bold sentence seemed to be trying to poke her eyes out.

_Two celebrities return to their hometown-Konoha!_

She looked back at Shikamaru, a bit confused, then back to Sasuke, who was shuffling the pages, until he reached the article. He raised the newspaper, so she couldn't read anymore, not that she cared anyway. He seemed to be nervous enough anyway and she wasn't that much of an idiot to go bothering him right them. She would't want him to kill her in her sleep, after all.

After a good of two minutes, Sasuke returned the newspaper on the table with a rather glum expression on his face.

" So? Are you sure you can go to her place now?" Shikamaru asked, as he shoved the paper in his bag. Sakura raised her eyebrows again and looked at Sasuke, who seemed like he'd kill somebody if he had the chance to.

" No. Sakura, we can't stay at your house."

" And why is that so? Care to explain?"

" My brother's coming home."

" So?"

He flashed her a dangerous look.

" I haven't seen him since Christmas."

Sakura looked around for a moment, calculating. God, that was almost an year, given the fact, that Christmas was in less than two months. She looked back at him and frowned.

" But-"

" I haven't seen him since Christmas." he repeated slowly, venomously. " And he's coming back for just a week. Don't...don't ruin this for me."

Sakura didn't answer. She was looking at him and he was staring back. He didn't sound like his usual self. The last part...no...it actually sounded like he was pleading her. She didn't have the heart to counter that. Besides, he was Sasuke's only family. Of course, she knew his parents were dead. Ino had been quite fond to inform her, but even without her, the tabloids were quite often giving information about it, because Itachi Uchiha was famous, and famous people had no personal life. She felt a pang of sourness hit her, but controlled it.

" Fine." she nodded, wistfully ignoring the fact, that she had just agreed to a whole week spent with Sasuke Uchiha and his fucking rules. Because, that's what he most probably had meant with 'not ruining it'. She sighed heavily. " But I get to pick the food!"

" Oh, awesome.." Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance in front of her. " Salads."

Absolutely deliberately, Sakura punched him in the shoulder, at which he winced a little. He didn't say anything, but just shook his head, causing a few black bangs to fall in his eyes, before looking away. Sakura sighed again, before looking back to Shikamaru, who observing them with slightly widened eyes.

" An interesting way to settle things."

" Indeed." Temari agreed, while pulling at one of his brown locks, which he seemed to try to ignore as hard as possible. Naruto and Ino were still making comments about the handcuffs, Hinata was deeply blushing, Kiba was looking at them with a smirk and Tenten and Neji...well...they were just kind of outzoning them. Some of their friends were yet to arrive, like Sai, Choji and Shino, but nobody seemed to notice. Then, something in Sakura's mind clicked.

" Two celebrities?" she blurted out. " If Itachi's the first one, then who...?"

" Tch." Sasuke snorted loudly beside her, which earned him another deadly glance. But when she looked at him, she noticed how pained and annoyed and bothered his expression was. She couldn't have been the cause for that, damn it, or was she that bad? " It's _her._"

" Her?" Naruto asked, momentraily stopping the goofing with Ino. " Wait, you mean -"

" Didn't you know?" Temari yawned. "First, it's all over the internet and second, she's your fucking cousin!"

" Oh, shit!" Naruto paled. "So it really is her."

Sakura looked around, as all her friends started muttering in something, that she would have defined as sheer horror. Everybody, except for Shikamaru, who seemed to be bored to death, and Sasuke, who just stared at the table so immensely, that Sakura feared, that it might catch fire.

" So, who is she?"

" You don't know either?" Kiba raised his eyebrows, while Ino slapped him playfully.

" She's never met her, how is she supposed to know."

" Oh, I don't know...you could have told her!"

" Anyway." Ino waved her hand to put an end to the discussion. " It's Karin."

Sakura started thinking again. now that she thought of it, Kakashi had mentioned a Karin during her first day here. And somebody had said, that Karin was on set. She hadn't given much thought to that before, but now...who was that Karin? A cousin of Naruto? Uzumaki Naruto. Uzumaki...

Uzumaki Karin.

She felt something clench around her heart and she dropped her can of soda. Without thinking, she rose to her feet, completely forgetting about the handcuff. It all resultet in the metal boring into her skin and her giving a whimper, before falling back to the bench. She stared at Ino first, then at Sasuke, then at everybody else at the table. All of them seemed entertained by her reaction of realisation.

" What the-...PIG! You never told me THE Uzumaki Karin studied here!"

" In our class." Ino nodded, then grimaced. " I thought she wasn't worth mentioning, the girl's a sheer bitch. I hate her."

Sakura's eyes flashed to naruto, thinking that he'd be remotely offended by his cousin being insulted right in front of him. Instead, he laughed.

" Actually, we all hate her. She's not just a bitch, she's...she's the bitch of Bitchland."

Sakura gaped at them. They were talking like this about one of the most famous teenage stars of their age. Karin was an amazing actress, everybody with eyes could see that. Everybody with ears could hear that. And Sakura...she just felt incredibly intimidated. Somehow, she'd let all the congratulations reach her ears in the past weeks, but now...she wasn't in the league of that girl. She was...she was worldwide famous.

" But you know what?" Ino leaned in, looking at Sakura conspirationally. " With you here we'll be able to get her ass back to earth!"

Sakura was properly confused at that statement. She just looked around and saw Hinata smiling sweetly, Kiba grinning along with Naruto, Temari and Shikamaru nodding, Tenten and Neji actually paying attention to the conversation. Sasuke was smirking, when she looked at him, which meant some unbelievable progress, but she shut that door, before even thinking farther about it.

" Why?"

" Because-" Ino started, but was cut off by the Uchiha.

" Because Karin hasn't received a look from Tsunade. Because you are, in fact, the only female student in the school to have received a look."

The moment of silence was rather depressing, or rather dramatic probably. She didn't know, but everybody was staring at her, that she instantly felt like she was some superhero or something. How ridiculous.

But maybe...maybe that look didn't actually mean a thing. After all, she had it, Neji had it, Sasuke had it, but they were still just students. And then there was Karin and her friends were claiming, that she didn't have the approval of Tsunade, but then again - she was the superstar, not them. Sakura decided not to voice that opinion though, she didn't think it'd be of any significance. It didn't matter, after all.

Yes, it didn't matter.

So, what? Uzumaki Karin was in her class. Tch, as if that girl needed lessons...as if she'd actually stay. That's right, she'd be back for a week and then back to the studios for the next shootings of movies and TV series. She wasn't n the same league as them...she was worldwide.

So, naturally, it didn't matter.

Sakura reached out to get her soda with a grim expression she could not control to only feel the metal from the handcuff on her wrist. That irritated her again, although she thought she'd gone over it by now. She didn't think Karin has ever done something like that, no, she highly doubted it. Karin never must have been the cause of laughter, the laughing stock of her teacher and classmates.

When she looked down to her arm, she saw Sasuke's too. His fingers were curled in a fist, lying calmly on his leg. His arm was strong, she could see the biceps, the muscles underneath the skin, the strength. And then her arms flew to her own arm - long and skinny, white and weak. Plain.

Anyway. She raised her right arm and got the soda can, feeling a few stares at her head. It was easy to ignore them, until Ino cleared her throat.

" Earth calling Forehead!" the blonde blurted. " What? Got scared or something? Not really necesarry, Karin is just talk-"

" Bullshit." Sasuke snorted beside Sakura and she could feel his arm twitching, because it actually pulled hers. She raised her head to look at him and the sudden reaction he was having. He was looking at Ino, as if she were the dumbest creature alive. " If she were only talk she wouldn't have been out there right now, but stuck on this table with us."

That was with double meaning, but Sakura didn't feel the need to point that out, either. But something in her actually awakened at the boy's words. He was actually admitting, that somebody else, beside him, had talent. And he was acknowledging that talent. She felt jealous. Why couldn't he be like that about her, instead of trying to crush her?

OK, maybe that was a bit exaggerrated, because they've only been on stage together once, but that didn't make the competitive feeling any less. He was pumped up and she could sense it, he had a goal to prove, that he was better than her. And with Karin? Nothing like it, it only seemed like he was just seeing the talent and accepting it. It was so irritating.

" So you don't mind her playing along with you in the holiday showcase?" Temari raised her eyebrows, while Ino stumbled back at those words.

" What the hell, Temari? How'd you know, that any of them would participate in the play?!"

" Oh, come on, shit-brain, Sasuke will most probably get the role and if she's here, then it's just clear. Not because of the play, but because of Sasuke. I mean, once she sees, that he's auditioning for the lead male, she'll be up for the lead female. And you know, that she will get it!"

" N-not if Sakura-ch-chan tries out!"

All heads turned to Hinata, who was blushing fiercly. Sakura was just trying to find the meaning behind all the words of Temari, but when naruto actually jumped in and patted Hinata's shoulder, and when the girl almost fainted, she looked at them.

" Hinata's right!"

" You think so?" temri questioned and when she turned towards her, the blonde was looking er up and down as if she were a statue in a museum. Kiba, however barked a laugh.

" You haven't seen her play, Temari...she's just...just...wow, well, i can't even find a proper word!"

" That's because you're an uneducated idiot." Shikamaru interrupted with his usual groan, before turning to the rosette himself. " Sakura, I'm directing Hinata's play this semester, so I'd really appreciate it if you auditioned for the role this weekend. You pass the character completely, I think you'll be able to pull it off."

Sasuke tensed beside her, when Shikamaru finished with something, resembling a smile. Sakura looked down to the table.

What were they doing? Why were they expecting so much from her? Didn't they see, that she was on the verge of breaking under the weight of all these expectations? But then again, they were the reason for her to still feel worthy and alive. And when she looked up to Sasuke, it was confirmed. He was stirring his coffee with a rueful smirk on his lips.

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember, who she was.

She was Sakura Haruno. She was seventeen. She was an actress...an actress with friends, with a rival in the eys of he boy standing next to her, with a teacher, who was actually trying to help both of them become better. And she was not going to let a person she didn't even know win.

That's why she smiled and looked up to the lazy director.

" Sign me up, then!"

* * *

Sasuke wasn't feeling even remotely concerned about the fact, that she was deseprately trying to hide their arms, while they were walking on the street. That's the least he owed her after she'd agreed on going to his home...besides, he didn't think, that the reaction of people to Kakashi's madness would be normal.

But another thing he couldn't tolerate.

" When the hell are we going to get there?!"

" Two more minutes!"

" You said that half an hour ago!"

Sasuke clenched his jaw. She was really starting to get on his nerves, especially when his home was just across the street. So when they crossed it, he took his key card theatrically and unlocked the front foor of the building, before flashing her an already perfectly mastered annoyed glance. She just frowned and followed him closely, not because she wanted t, but because she had no other choice.

The building, Sasuke lived in, was one of the highest ones in Konoha and reaching the penthouse with a person cuffed to your arm wouldn't be the wisest idea, so they took the elevator. And the ride was feeling so much longer with her in there, not saying a word, but just staring at the ceiling.

A pang of guilt hit Sasuke, as they were getting closer to his apartment. When they'd passed by her place for her to gather clothes and stuff like comb and toothbrush, he noticed how tidy she was. And now she was going to see his home, which looked awfully bad, he knew that. Probably she'd demand them spending the week in her own house.

And probably, he wouldn't mind.

He enered the code, partly trying to hide it from Sakura's eyesight, before the doors opened to let them inside the bright apartment.

Well, yup - it was a total mess. And by looking at him, he made a mental note to call somebody to clean it up before Itachi arrived. He definitely didn't want to spend half an hour lisening to lectures about him having to be more kempt. Tch, as if it were that easy!

"What have you been doing in here?" Sakura asked, regaining his attention. He could catch the surprise and wonder in her voice. Well, there it was, a perfect chance for him to make her feel uncomfortable. He beamed at her.

" You really want to know?" he asked with a deliberate smirk, while looking at her, like she most probably didn't want him to. It had the desired effect - she just groaned quietly and made a step towards the all-glass wall.

Sasuke followed her, because he'd be dragged there either way. Both of them stared out of the wall for a few seconds, before Sasuke sighed.

" It's better at night."

" Hm?"

" The view... at night, when all the lights from the pubs and bars and restaurants are shining, it's better. Konoha becomes a more beautiful place."

Sasuke shut up. he didn't sound like himself at that moment, but he didn't really care. Sakura must have noticed this too, because she looked up to him with interest in her emerald eyes. Thankkfully though, she decided to drop the subject.

" If you try to do anything to me, I won't be hesitating. I'll bite you...or leave you no chance to reproduce yourself!"

He nodded curtly, mostly because he knew she wasn't joking. Something in her expression showed him, that she was being serious about it. Besides, he didn't have enough energy to fight her. And, he hadn't planned on doing anything to her, he had his morals, after all.

" And also, about the thing we talked about - we should compromise, right? About everything, until this hell of a week is over."

" Alright."

She was probably surprised by his sudden change of character, but he didn't feel the need to argue over stupid bullshit with her. Not when he was going to spend a whole week with her, not when he was actually having a chance to get to know her.

" Good." she nodded. " And one more thing - we need to think of something, because I don't plan on going to the toilet or showering with you!"

Sasuke smirked. He raised his eyebrows, realizing that this would probably ensure him a lot of trouble, but he didn't really care - it was tottally worth it.

" Well, then, you better figure it out quickly, because I need to pee."

* * *

**Hi there, sorry for the delay, I had exams :)**

**I hope you liked it! Reviews would be highly appreciated, so make sure to leave your opinion of this chapter in the section below! :)**

**Until next time, lovelies! **

**xox**


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